Curry Office Supply Fined for Negligently Releasing Contaminant into River

Curry Office Supply Inc. was ordered Monday to pay a $50,000 fine for negligent discharge of contaminated water into streams that flow into the Sangamon River.

The company pleaded guilty in January to negligently discharging water containing boron into tributaries of the Sangamon River without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit.

U.S. Judge Jeanne Scott also said the company must serve three years probation.

The boron-contaminated water was pumped out of an excavation site at 3600 N. Dirksen Parkway from about March or April 2003 until early June 2003.

About 2 million gallons of water had accumulated in the excavated area.

Boron leached from 35,000 tons of fly ash and bottom ash waste, byproducts of power plant coal, that that had been deposited in the excavation.

Curry Office Supply is a subsidiary of Curry Ready Mix and Builders’ Supply Inc. Charges against other Curry companies were dismissed.

Trial is scheduled for December in a related case against Gerald P. Lippold of Carlinville. Lippold was charged by a federal grand jury in January 2006 with dumping into protected waters without a permit.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois State Police and prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorney Patrick Chesley.

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