‘Smart Window’ maker to pay nearly US$5 million fine for illegal wastewater dumping in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss –

A California-based firm can pay slightly below US$5 million in fines for discharging wastewater right into a publicly owned sewage therapy plant in Mississippi with out acquiring a sound state allow, a federal decide dominated Tuesday.

View Inc., a glass-making agency headquartered in Silicon Valley, beforehand pleaded responsible to negligently discharging wastewater right into a metropolis sewer system from the corporate’s sole manufacturing facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi. That discharge endangered residents within the north Mississippi neighborhood and Memphis suburb of just about 40,000, federal prosecutors stated.

“When companies place profit and convenience above public safety, we will do all we can to punish that behavior and protect the public,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner stated in a news launch. “This illegal discharge of wastewater into the public treatment facility demonstrated a blatant disregard for the safety and wellbeing of citizens in our District.”

In addition to the fines, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced the corporate to a three-year time period of probation.

The firm discharges about 248,000 gallons of wastewater per day from glass-cutting, grinding, washing and sharpening straight into town’s sewer system. But the corporate did so with out a correct allow for years, prosecutors stated.

“Unpermitted discharges of industrial wastewater can pose a serious threat to our nation’s wastewater treatment systems,” stated Charles Carfagno, a particular agent with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The firm didn’t reply a name to its basic line and didn’t instantly reply to a written request for remark.

The Mississippi glass plant opened by View Inc. was initially touted as a profitable financial improvement venture by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. In 2010, Barbour lured the corporate, beforehand generally known as Soladigm, to the state with a US$40 million mortgage, in keeping with The Commercial Appeal.

According to its web site, the corporate makes “smart windows” that may decrease vitality prices and enhance psychological well being. In July, the corporate reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to reveal US$28 million in liabilities to deal with a defect in its home windows. In a news launch, the company stated it determined to not impose civil penalties as a result of the corporate self-reported its misconduct.