A New York man admitted to lying to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about a large amount of hazardous waste dumped on a property in Niagara Falls.
Michael J. Hale, 65, pleaded guilty to a charge of making a materially false statement, according to a September 18 release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
In December 2023, Hale was employed as Vice President of Regional Logistics Group LLC, a business operating out of a property located at 3800 Highland Avenue in Niagara Falls.
The EPA executed a search warrant at the location following an October 2023 tip from a local resident that a large quantity of hand sanitizer had been dumped outside.
When agents arrived, they found “expired hand sanitizer that had been dumped on the property outside in a pile measuring 73 feet long, by 24 feet wide, by five feet high,” officials said.
The EPA determined that the hand sanitizer was flammable, meaning that under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), it was considered hazardous waster.
When investigators questioned Hale, he said that he had no idea how or when the hand sanitizer had been brought to Highland Avenue. “However, Hale knew and was aware that the hand sanitizer had been dumped outside 3800 Highland Avenue and had been originally brought to Highland Avenue between January and May of 2022,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Hale faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division.
