Metal-plating company charged with pollution

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Two brothers and their metal-plating company in Ohio have been charged with illegally dumping untreated waste containing cyanide and various metals into a sewer system that ultimately leads to Lake Erie.

Federal prosecutors announced Friday that Thomas and Gregory Stricker and Stricker Refinishing Co. in Cleveland were charged with dumping untreated industrial wastewater into the system on numerous occasions between March and August 2007.

The charges allege that the defendants ordered employees to bypass the company’s pretreatment system.

Attorney John Mitchell, representing Gregory Stricker and the company, says the brothers plan to plead guilty.

He says they’ve spent more than $100,000 on improvements and training over the past three years to prevent a recurrence.