Two plumbing company employees have pleaded guilty to polluting a Montgomery County, Maryland, pond with grease and wastewater.
Two plumbing company employees have pleaded guilty to polluting a Montgomery County, Maryland, pond with grease and wastewater.
Jaime Beza, 33, and Robert Dupey, 51, both employees of JPG Plumbing and Mechanical, Inc., admitted to dumping the contents of their truck into a manhole behind a 7-Eleven.
Beza pleaded guilty in December 2024 and received probation and a $2,000 fine. Dupey received probation and a $1,000 fine. The fines will go to the Maryland Clean Water Fund.
Beza and Dupey were scheduled to vacuum water and sludge at a job in Montgomery County on April 18, 2024.
“After Beza and Dupey picked up a truck from JPG’s business lot in Laurel, they discovered that the tank was filled with too much grease and other pollutants to complete the job,” according to Montgomery County’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Instead of making the two-hour round-trip drive to dispose of the waste properly at the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Facility in D.C., they drove to the nearby Ashton Village Center in Olney.
There, they parked behind the 7-Eleven and emptied the truck’s contents into a manhole in the alleyway behind the store, according to a news release from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office. The manhole drains directly into Ashton Pond, which is part of a residential community.
Surveillance video from the Ashton Village Center captured the vacuum hose being removed from the truck by Dupey and the manhole being opened by Beza.
JPG Plumbing and Mechanical, Inc. was also held responsible, with the company required to pay more than $69,000 in cleanup costs. WTOP is seeking comment from the company.
“Polluters who cut corners at the expense of public health will face consequences,” said County Executive Marc Elrich, in a statement. “Montgomery County will continue to protect our waterways and ensure environmental laws are enforced.”
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
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