PLANO, Texas - A 57-year-old Quinlan, Texas man has been sentenced for environmental violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
William “Bill" Lafon Musgrove pleaded guilty on Aug. 7, 2013, to negligent release of an extremely hazardous substance and was sentenced to 36 months of probation today by U.S. Magistrate Judge Don D. Bush. Musgrove was also fined $10,000.
According to information presented in court, in June of 2011, Musgrove was the vice president of and operations manager of Industrial Precious Metals Recovery Incorporated (IPMR), in Royse City, Texas. During that time, he allowed their metal recovery process to release approximately ten pounds of Nitrogen Oxides, or “NOx" within a 24 hour time period into the ambient air at ground level through an open doorway, instead of utilizing the company’s air scrubber which was broken at the time. Musgrove admitted that he should have known that releasing NOx in that manner would place people in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Fortunately, no actual injuries occurred.
Federal environmental regulations characterize Nitrogen Oxides as an “extremely hazardous substance." At the time, the IPMR facility in Royse City was adjacent to other commercial facilities with employees that were present during the NOx emissions. The facility has since closed.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigations Division, Region VI, Dallas, Texas, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Environmental Crimes Unit and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
