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EPA Criminal Enforcement: Protecting People and the Environment - YouTube
Channel: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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Male TV anchor: “Millions of gallons of
brown crude are now coating birds and other
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wildlife and polluting the marshes.”
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Male TV anchor: “Investigating the death
of a 4-year-old Layton girl and right now,
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it looks like a pesticide seeping into her
home is the cause.”
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Female TV anchor: “According to the Environmental
Protection Agency it’s used in all 50 states
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and in order to use treated waste on land
one must meet strict federal criteria.”
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JULIE: THE MISSION OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY IS TO PROTECT HUMAN HEALTH
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AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
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JEFF: EPA’S ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM IS CRITICAL
TO ENSURING COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL
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LAWS.
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Scott Adair/ EPA Special Agent: Pollution
often will impact people in ways that they
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can’t see or taste or smell and it’s our
job to make sure that the companies and the
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people that are in the community are playing
by the rules.
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JULIE: EPA’S CIVIL AND CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT
PROGRAMS ARE TOOLS TO ENCOURAGE COMPLIANCE,
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TO PREVENT AND DETECT VIOLATIONS THAT DO OCCUR
AND IMPOSE CONSEQUENCES FOR BREAKING ENVIRONMENTAL
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LAWS.
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Scott Adair: What makes us unique with the
EPA and the fact that EPA has a criminal investigation
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division and sworn federal law enforcement
officers is that environmental crimes are
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often very difficult to prove and they’re
also very difficult to investigate.
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JEFF: MOST VIOLATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
ARE CIVIL.
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THEY OCCUR BECAUSE A LAW OR RULE WAS BROKEN,
EVEN IF THE PERSON OR COMPANY THAT BROKE IT
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DID NOT INTEND TO.
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JULIE: BUT, WHEN THERE’S AN INTENTIONAL
VIOLATION OF THE LAW, THAT’S A POTENTIAL
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CRIME, WHICH MAY LEAD TO STEEP FINES AND PRISON.
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Andrea Abat/ EPA Special Agent: Having a criminal
component and using those highest levels of
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sentencing and jail time and those kinds of
things against these defendants, that’s
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how you really put a good deterrent message
out and only a criminal enforcement program
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can do that.
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JEFF: ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES LIKE THE DELIBERATE
DUMPING OF HAZARDOUS WASTE, OR THE ILLEGAL
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HANDLING OF HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES CAN CAUSE
DEATH AND SERIOUS ILLNESS, AND IMPACT THE
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ENVIRONMENT.
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[agents walking through grass]
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Andrea Abat: For us on a daily basis that
means conduct criminal investigations, that
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means poring through documents, that means
collecting samples from drums and from different
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places to be able to bring those people responsible
to justice.
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JULIE: EPA SPECIAL AGENTS TRAIN AND SERVE
AS FULL-FLEDGED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS WITH
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CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY, INCLUDING
THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE ARRESTS AND CARRY FIREARMS.
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Martin Schwartz/ EPA Special Agent: Our folks
have to be prepared to go from doing a complex
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fraud investigation in an office environment
and now go out and interact with individuals
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that may or may not be inclined to use force
against our agents.
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JEFF: EPA SPECIAL AGENTS ARE SUPPORTED BY
SPECIALLY-TRAINED FORENSIC SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS
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AND ATTORNEYS FROM ACROSS THE AGENCY.
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ALONG WITH OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS,
AT THE FEDERAL, STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL LEVEL,
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WE TACKLE THE MOST SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES
THAT IMPACT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.
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Andrea: We’re helping you know get the most
egregious criminals off the street that are
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polluting our water and our air and the ground.
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Scot: At the end of the day it really is about
protecting human health and making sure that
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people are safe.
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JULIE: DESPITE ALL THE LAWS AND SAFEGUARDS
THAT ARE IN PLACE, SOMETIMES IT TAKES A TRAGEDY
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TO BRING ATTENTION TO AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM
AND CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT TO GET JUSTICE FOR
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THE VICTIMS.
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JEFF: IN AUGUST 1996, THE OWNER OF FERTILIZER
COMPANY EVERGREEN RESOURCES TOLD HIS EMPLOYEES
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TO CLEAN OUT A 25-THOUSAND GALLON TANK, IGNORING
REQUESTS FOR SAFETY EQUIPMENT.
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A 20-YEAR-OLD MAN CLIMBED DOWN INTO THE TANK
WEARING NOTHING BUT JEANS AND A T-SHIRT.
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PARAMEDICS REMOVED SCOTT DOMINGUEZ FROM THE
TANK AND RUSHED HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, A VICTIM
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OF CYANIDE POISONING.
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Jackie Hamp/ Victim’s Mother: He just has
severe brain damage.
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It put holes all the way through his basal
ganglia.
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His balance and speech and all that is off.
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Scott Dominguez/ Victime: Cha, cha, …
Jackie Hamp: He wants everybody to know he
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has a daughter.
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JEFF: OWNER ALLAN ELIAS WAS SENTENCED TO 17-YEARS
IN PRISON FOR FALSIFYING A SAFETY PLAN AND
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COMMITING NUMEROUS HAZARDOUS WASTE VIOLATIONS
THAT RESULTED IN SCOTT’S PERMANENT, LIFE-CHANGING
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INJURIES.
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Jackie Hamp: I think it probably wouldn’t
have went too far without the Idaho State
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Police and the EPA coming in.
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JULIE: IN FEBRUARY 2009, THE TOONES HAD THEIR
PROPERTY TREATED FOR RODENTS BY BUGMAN PEST
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AND LAWN.
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WHEN THE PROBLEM PERSISTED, BUGMAN SENT THE
SAME TECHNICIAN OUT TO THE HOME AGAIN.
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Brenda Toone/ Victims’ Mother: It didn’t
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turn out the way that we were hoping because
instead of just simply treating the rodents,
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the poison seeped into our home and led to
the death of our two youngest children.
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JULIE: FOR VIOLATING THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE
PESTICIDE SAFETY LABEL, TECHNICIAN COLEMAN
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NOCKS WAS SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS PROBATION.
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THE COMPANY AND OWNER RAY WILSON, SR., WAS
FINED $3000 AND PLACED ON A THREE YEAR PROBATION.
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Brenda Toone: Just a few months following
the deaths of our daughters the EPA made some
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changes in the rules that govern the application
of the toxin that killed our daughters.
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JULIE: EVERYDAY, AMERICA’S ENVIRONMENTAL
CRIME FIGHTERS WORK AROUND THE COUNTRY TO
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PREVENT TRAGEDIES SUCH AS THESE.
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CRIMINAL ENFORCEMENT IS THE STRONGEST LEVERAGE
EPA HAS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE AND COMPANIES
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PLAY BY THE RULES.
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JEFF: WITH A CONVICTION RATE OF ABOUT 90-PERCENT,
INDIVIDUALS AND CORPORATIONS SHOULD THINK
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TWICE BEFORE CUTTING CORNERS, PUTTING PEOPLE
AT RISK, AND COMMITTING ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES.
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IF YOU SUSPECT AN ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATION
IS HAPPENING IN YOUR COMMUNITY, SEND US YOUR
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LEADS AT EPA.GOV/TIPS.
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