Man to Spend Five Years in Jail for Storing Waste in his Back Yard

A California man has been ordered to spend five years behind bars - the longest prison term ever handed down by a California federal judge in a hazardous waste case - for illegally storing toxic and explosive hazardous waste in his backyard, posing a threat to neighbours. Edward Wyman, 64, was also ordered to pay $800,000 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for costs associated with the 47-day clean-up response.



Wyman was convicted in April of violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, along with a special finding that his conduct knowingly placed another person in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. In handing down the
sentence this week, U.S. District Judge George H. King said Wyman's crimes were "not victimless or hyper-technical offenses," but rather constituted "a real and present danger" to the defendant's family and neighbours. During the clean-up, EPA contractors were forced to call out the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb and arson squad seven separate times to deal with possible explosives mixed into the burned debris, prosecutors said. Wyman was charged in June 2009, soon after fire fighters responded to a report of a fire and explosions at his home. Investigators discovered a large cache of toxic materials, such as thousands of rounds of corroded ammunition, lead-contaminated waste from shooting ranges, hundreds of pounds of decades-old gunpowder and military M6 cannon powder, and industrial solvents that contained 1,1,1-trichloroethane and tetrachloroethylene, which are potent chemicals listed as hazardous substances under US laws, prosecutors said. Wyman did not have a permit to store any of the materials, authorities said.



Because ammunition was exploding in the fire, fire fighters had to wear bulletproof vests. The sentence "demonstrates the serious nature of federal environmental crimes," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said. "Federal environmental regulations exist to protect both public safety and the environment," he said. "The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the environment and to prosecuting persons who threaten the community through their illegal actions."