August 18, 2003—Attorney General Mike Fisher has announced that agents from his Environmental Crimes Section have criminally charged a Berks County businessman, his company’s general manager and a private contractor with burying nearly 200 fifty-five gallon drums, some of which contained hazardous wastes including lead and silver. The drums were allegedly buried at the former Reading Industrial Scrap Yard (RISCO) site in Berks County. The charges allege that the illegal pit, dug on the property, also contained asbestos and other solid wastes.
According to the criminal charges, the defendants between June 2001 and August 2002 knowingly and intentionally buried nearly 200 drums that in some cases contained liquid that tested positive for lead and silver.
Fisher said Snyder and Group Two Properties were each charged with two felony counts of illegally disposing and storing hazardous waste and three counts of Unlawful Conduct under Pennsylvania’s Solid Waste Management Act.
Smith and Gerber were each charged with two felony counts of illegally disposing and storing hazardous waste and two counts of Unlawful Conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act.
Fisher said Snyder in September 2000 purchased the former RISCO site through his company Group Two Properties. The charges allege that Snyder hired Gerber to haul the hazardous waste and other materials on the property to several legal waste sites, including the BFI Landfill in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.
Fisher said the criminal investigation was referred to his Environmental Crimes Section by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after the agency received a tip that hundreds of drums were buried at the site.
