GREENBELT, Md.—Chief U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow sentenced David Ector, age 55, of Lusby, today to two years probation after Ector pleaded guilty to discharging fill material into the Chesapeake Bay without a permit, in violation of the Clean Water Act. As a special condition of his sentence, Chief Judge Chasanow ordered that the defendant remove, at his own expense, all fill material discharged into the Chesapeake Bay.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge David G. McLeod, Jr., of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division - Philadelphia Area Office.
“This country's environmental laws are aimed at keeping our inland waterways free from materials that do not belong there,” said David G. McLeod, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of EPA's criminal enforcement program in Maryland. “By ignoring restrictions on fill material in and around Chesapeake Bay, the defendant interfered with the critical habitat of an endangered species. Today's guilty plea and sentencing demonstrates that those who illegally alter or destroy these essential natural resources will be prosecuted.”
According to his plea agreement, Ector owned a cliff-front property in Calvert County. From May 28 through May 30, 2010, Ector caused large rocks (rip rap) to be dumped over the cliff-face. Ector did not obtain a permit to put the rocks into the Chesapeake Bay, as required by the Clean Water Act. The rip rap also scraped away soil on the cliff-face as it slid down the slope, interfering with the critical habitat of an endangered species.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the EPA Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney David I. Salem, who prosecuted the case.
Source: Office of United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein