Mark Sawyer, Clean Air Act Violation, Tennessee 2014

Mark Sawyer, the owner and operator of A&E Salvage Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act in federal court in Greeneville, Tennessee.

The charges against Sawyer allege that he and his co-conspirators engaged in a multi-year scheme to improperly remove and dispose of asbestos-containing materials from the former Liberty Fibers Plant.

Asbestos exposure has been linked to lung cancer, asbestosis, and mesothelioma, a fatal disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

Sawyer faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss to the victims.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Morris of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee and Senior Trial Attorney Todd W. Gleason of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Special Agents of the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case.

Sawyer is the last of five charged co-defendants to plead guilty. The others, Eric Gruenberg, Nick Smith, Armida DiSanti, and Milto DiSanti, are due to be sentenced on November 19, 2014.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/tennessee-salvage-company-owner-and-operator-pleads-guilty-conspiring-violate-clean-air-act