FEDERAL CREOSOTE EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO DEFRAUDING EPA AT SUPERFUND SITE

On February 26, 2009, Christopher Tranchina, an employee of a company temporarily responsible for electrical utilities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote in Manville, NJ, pled guilty to defrauding the EPA at that site.
According to the indictment, Mr. Tranchina and co-conspirators defrauded the EPA by inflating Federal Creosote invoices to the EPA and taking kickbacks approximately totaling $138,000. Mr. Tranchina received $23,000 of the kickback money along with a hot tub and HVAC system.

On December 18, 2008, Zul Tejpar, a former employee at Bennett Environmental Industries pled guilty for defrauding the EPA at Federal Creosote site and agreed to pay a criminal fine of $1 million and help in the ongoing investigation. As a part of the same investigation, on July 31, 2008, Mr. Tejpar’s former employer, BEI, pled guilty and agreed to pay $1 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to defraud the EPA at designated Superfund site, Federal Creosote in Manville, NJ. On June 23, 2008, JMJ Environmental Inc., a New Jersey wastewater treatment supply company, and its executives pled guilty to defraud the EPA at two New Jersey Superfund sites, including the Federal Creosote site.

Andre Barlow