Benjamin Franklin Pass, Unlawful Handling of PCB-Contaminated Oil, North Carolina 2023

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – Benjamin Franklin Pass, 61, and P&W Waste Oil Services Inc., of Leland, North Carolina were sentenced today in federal court in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Pass was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay 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 (IRS) for federal income taxes he failed to pay between 2002 and 2011.

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

Pass also pleaded guilty to failure to pay taxes and P&W pleaded guilty to material false statements.

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.

P&W was also ordered to serve a five-year term of probation and to take remedial action to address the environmental contamination at its facility and other leased property in eastern North Carolina, including but not limited to, the proper treatment and disposal of PCB-contaminated waste oil.

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

As part of its business operations, P&W collected, transported, processed, and marketed used oil that it received from small and large companies, such as automotive service stations, transformer repair companies and marinas. P&W also conducted tank cleaning and waste removal.

The crimes committed by Pass and P&W exposed the health of North Carolina’s residents and their natural resources to risk.

The case is being prosecuted by the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

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