Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that Cardolite Corporation, an international chemical company that formerly operated a plant in Newark, pleaded guilty today to violating the Water Pollution Control Act by failing to accurately monitor and report the pH levels of its discharges into the public sewer system.
The company will pay a fine and restitution of over $150,000.
Cardolite Corporation, which is headquartered in Monmouth Junction, pleaded guilty today to six fourth-degree charges of violating the Water Pollution Control Act before Superior Court Judge John I. Gizzo in Essex County.
Under the plea agreement, the corporation must pay a fine of $100,000. It also must pay $53,338 in restitution to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission (PVSC).
The Division of Criminal Justice was assisted in the investigation by the PVSC. Cardolite was licensed under a Sewer Use Permit by the PVSC to discharge effluent from the Newark plant into the public sewer system, subject to certain conditions and requirements. The $53,338 that Cardolite is paying to the PVSC represents restitution for the cost of the agency’s assistance during the investigation.
Sentencing is set for Sept. 8.
The Water Pollution Control Act requires regulated entities to self-monitor compliance and report violations. Under its permit, Cardolite was required to monitor the pH level of its discharges using a probe and maintain a pH level between 5.0 and 10.5. Readings below 5.0 of any duration, and readings above 10.5 that lasted an hour or more, were to be reported as permit violations.
In pleading guilty, Cardolite admitted that on six occasions between April 22 and July 14, 2015, it violated its permit in one or more of the following ways: (1) discharging effluent with a pH outside permitted limits, (2) failing to self-report the discharging of an effluent with a pH outside permitted limits, (3) inaccurately self-reporting discharges outside permitted limits, (4) tampering with the pH probe required to be maintained by statute, regulation or permit, and (5) rendering inaccurate any monitoring device or method required to be maintained.
The investigation revealed that the company routinely had employees remove the probe for “calibration” when an alarm sounded indicating a violation, thereby preventing the capture of full and accurate data. Investigators secretly installed a second pH monitor that detected the specific violations.
No direct harm to the environment or infrastructure was attributed to the violations.