Jupiter Aluminum manager sentenced for conspiracy to violate Clean Air Act

The maintenance manager of Jupiter Aluminum Corporation in Hammond has been sentenced to six months of home detention after pleading guilty in federal court to conspiring to violate a U.S. Clean Air Act permit and to making false statements in reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana said.

Charles Woodworth, 64, of Crown Point was also sentenced to three years of probation, a fine of $2,500, and 100 hours of community service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Woodworth admitted in his plea agreement that the purpose of the conspiracy was to conceal from environmental regulators the Jupiter Aluminum’s failure to properly control and limit its air emissions so it could continue to operate and burn scrap aluminum, as well as to avoid liability relating to the facility’s air pollution control practices,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Specifically, from August 2002 and November 2008, maintenance workers at Jupiter Aluminum, supervised by Woodworth, falsified “baghouse” reports by providing false and fictitious information on the reports and omitting other information required by the company’s Clean Air Act permit, the plea agreement states.

The case was investigated by EPA, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and the Environmental Crimes Task Force.