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FIRM PLEADS GUILTY TO ENVIRONMENTAL

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A jet fuel distribution company today pleaded guilty to dumping spent fuel into a waterway at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, the Justice Department announced.

In a plea agreement entered today in federal court in Alexandria, Va., Ogden Aviation Fueling Company of Virginia said that it illegally spilled about 7,300 gallons of used jet fuel into a drainage ditch that is ultimately connected to the Potomac River. Under the agreement, Ogden has agreed to pay a $200,000 penalty. Sentencing is set for November 28.

From 1988 to 1998, Ogden operated the fuel storage and distribution system at Dulles International Airport. As part of its operation, the company collected storm water contaminated with jet fuel and stored it in a large tank on site.

Ordinarily Ogden contracted without another company to remove the spent fuel from the tank before discharging treated wastewater into a drainage ditch. But on October 11, 1996, workers left the pumping system unattended, and the system began dumping jet fuel into the waterway along with wastewater.

The fuel traveled through the ditch, which runs parallel to Virginia Route 28, and emptied into Horsepen Run. Dissolved fuel from the spill was detected as far away as Broad Run, which is a tributary of the Potomac River.

Ogden, which no longer operates the fuel distribution at Dulles, undertook a clean up of the site and was able to recover most of the spilled fuel.

The investigation was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

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