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6/18/2026
WT Staff
 Knowledge of an environmental crime? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email info@wtny.us
June 18, 2026 308 pm EDT
CrimeBox
Historic Conviction Fiscal Year 2014; Case ID# CR_2635 (Illinois)
This Chicago wind turbine parts manufacturer missed the point of renewable energy, admits 300 harmful discharges in violation of CWA for $1.5 million fine
In 2023, about 4.18 trillion kWh of electricity were generated at utility-scale electricity generation facilities in the United States. About 60% of this electricity generation was from fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, petroleum, and other gases. About 19% was from nuclear energy, and about 21% was from renewable energy sources. Wind power is the principle renewable, at 425 billion kWh, double the next renewable category, hydro.
- U.S. Energy Information Administration
The Defendant in this case is a precision gear parts manufacturer located in Cicero, a suburb of Chicago. The company employs skilled tradespeople to fabricate parts for wind power generation, contributing key components required to maintain the US fleet of wind turbines. The company was charged with a single count, felony violation of the Clean Water Act, discharging contaminants to waters of the USA without a permit.
A company representative entered the guilty plea on behalf of the company, admitting to at least 300 separate discharges over the course of four years, from spring 2007 to Feb 2011. According to the plea agreement, the company released "spent acid wastewater and spent alkaline wastewater, industrial rinse waters, acidic solutions, oil, grease, and metal-bearing wastewater into the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago sewer system without a permit. The wastewater was received at the MWRDGC's Stickney Water Reclamation Plant in southwest Chicago, where it was treated and discharged into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal."
The Defendant's plea agreement provided details about the violations. In 2004, the Defendant's executive management ordered the installation of pipes to transfer untreated industrial process water from the acid etching and finishing processes down the sanitary sewer drain. Turbine gear parts were dipped in a series of tanks: caustic cleaners, rinse waters and nitric acid followed by a hydrochloric acid bath. The etching acid wash measured below 2.0 pH, the caustic cleaners measured above 10.5 pH, each of these non-compliant for discharge, harmful to the municipal sanitary sewer system mains, equipment and staff.
The finishing process involved more chemicals, along with abrasive materials to smooth and polish the gear parts.
When the non-conforming fluids were detected at the wastewater plant, high acid and high alkaline streams were tracked back to the Defendant's sewer line. A search of the Defendant's facility in Feb 2011 confirmed the illegal discharges had been made down the sanitary sewer drain, without a permit and without pre-treatment to the acceptable effluent characteristics. The Defendant should have had a discharge permit specifying the acceptable limits for contaminants, however the permit had not been applied for.
The Defendant was initially cooperative with authorities, implementing proper disposal procedures for its produced wastewater. For its cooperation, the authorities did not press for a court-imposed corporate compliance agreement.
The minimum mandatory fine to be imposed for each illegal discharge was $5,000 at the time of sentencing, 2014. The Defendant agreed to pay $1.5 million in equal instalments over a three year period to settle the federal fine.
"To protect public health and our nation's waterways, it is critical that industries treat their wastes safely and legally before sending them into the public sewers. For years, the defendant knowingly broke the law by allowing untreated industrial waste ― including corrosive liquids ― to be discharged into the public sewer system without a permit. Today’s guilty plea shows that those who engage in such conduct will be prosecuted."
- Randall Ashe, Special Agent-in-Charge, EPA CID Chicago
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Flanagan, investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division. The outcome was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and Randall Ashe, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Criminal Enforcement in Chicago.
Federal Fine: $1,500,000
See last week's CrimeBox here, "An environmental services company avoided industrial waste treatment costs; later sentenced $200,000 for illegal dumping".
CrimeBox briefs are compiled from EPA Criminal Enforcement records.
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