Benjamin Franklin Pass, Environmental Contamination, North Carolina 2023

Raleigh, NC

Benjamin Franklin Pass, 61, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc. (P&W) of Leland, N.C., were sentenced in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Pass was sentenced to 42 months in prison and restitution in the amount of $21,373,143.38 for clean-up costs associated with the environmental contamination at his business and an additional $538,857 to the Internal Revenue Service for federal income taxes he failed to pay between 2002 and 2011.

Pass and P&W previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the unlawful handling and dilution of used oil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).

The court also ordered P&W to pay restitution in the amount of $21,373,143.38 for losses incurred by Colonial Oil and International Paper as a result of the defendants' mishandling of used oil contaminated with PCBs that led to widespread contamination and millions of dollars in clean-up costs.

According to information in the public record, Pass owned and operated P&W's facility in Leland, N.C. The facility is located approximately 500 feet to the east of the Cape Fear River and a federally recognized wetland.

Pass and P&W's actions placed an economic burden on the United States and an unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the citizens of North Carolina, according to United States Attorney Thomas G. Walker.

"This disregard of environmental protections resulted in significant contamination," Walker stated.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/eastern-north-carolina-recycling-business-and-owner-sentenced-unlawful-handling-pcb