Frederick County Company Charged with Illegal Discharge of Oil and Failure to Report Discharge to Authorities

BALTIMORE, MD (May 17, 2007) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Tri-Con USA, Inc. of 1192 Schaffer Drive in Frederick has been charged in the Circuit Court for Frederick County with illegally discharging oil in an area likely to pollute waters of the state and failing to report the discharge of oil.

The charges allege that Tri-Con USA, Inc. violated the State’s Water Pollution laws on August 18, 2006, by illegally discharging fuel oil at 6724 Jefferson Blvd., Braddock Heights, in Frederick County and by failing to report the incident immediately to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

If convicted of the charges, Tri-Con USA, Inc. could face a fine of $50,000 for each charge. The filing of charges is merely an accusation of criminal wrongdoing and each individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

These charges follow an investigation conducted by the Environmental Crimes Unit of the Office of the Attorney General with the assistance of the Maryland Department of Environment’s Waste Management Administration’s Oil Control Program. In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Gansler thanked Assistant Attorney General Jay Robinson for his work on the case.