Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Gold Coast Owner Pleads Guilty, Gold Coast Responds

 The Justice Department issued the following statement. 

The co-owner of Gold Coast Commodities, Inc., who serves as vice president of the Brandon-based fat and oil recycling business, pled guilty today for his part in illegally discharging industrial waste into the Jackson Sewer System, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Charles Carfagno with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division’s Southeast Area Branch. 

During court today, Robert David Douglas, 60, of Flowood, admitted authorizing payments on behalf of Gold Coast for the transportation and disposal of its industrial waste at a commercial entity in Jackson, which as a result of his negligence, caused the waste to be trucked and discharged to a facility which was not a legal discharge point designated by the Jackson Wastewater Treatment System to receive the waste.

Douglas will be sentenced on November 9, 2022 at 2:30 p.m.  A federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Brandon Police Department, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, with cooperation from the City of Brandon and the City of Jackson municipal governments.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gaines Cleveland.

Gold Coast issued the following statement in response to the Justice Department. 

“In Gold Coast’s 38 years of operation, we have always taken pride in our reputation as good stewards of the community and the environment. Although this charge is only a misdemeanor, we take all such charges very seriously.

Gold Coast hired Rebel High Velocity Sewer Services to legally dispose of the company’s wastewater. That business has been registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office for 48 years, has an A+ BBB rating, and has met all industry standards to handle this business. To our knowledge, every vendor Gold Coast hires follows their own stated process, and there was no reason to believe that Rebel High Velocity was improperly disposing of wastewater after leaving our facility. Thankfully, there was no environmental impact, no damage to infrastructure, and no person harmed from the unlawful actions of Rebel High Velocity.

It is important to point out that negligence in this case means Gold Coast hired a vendor to properly dispose of wastewater, and that vendor did not do the job they were hired to do.

At the end of the day, we hired an expert to protect the environment and surrounding communities. The mistake made here was to fully trust that Rebel High Velocity followed their stated process and lawfully did the job they were hired to do.” 

 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is basically only punishable by fine. May get some time but usually only home confinement.

Anonymous said...

What he did would be like him pissing into the river compared to what Chokwe did.

Anonymous said...

Hold on just a minute & read Beatrice Potter around Columbus, MS that had high fines Johnny Cochran. Was involved with

Anonymous said...

Has the mayor blamed this dude for causing the pump failures yet?

Anonymous said...

Is this related to that Rebel company that dumped raw sewage into the Pearl river.

Anonymous said...

Got Dam!! Somebody has to arrest the mayor for discharging 52 million gallons of poop into the Pearl!

Anonymous said...

So, he paid a company to dispose of waste. They did it incorrectly. He is held criminally liable. That doesn’t make sense. What about the company that illegally dumped the waste? Were they charged as well?

Anonymous said...

Where are all the rankin reds and relocated snooty rankin reds (madisonians) ?? How about stop dumping your dip spit in the river. Meanwhile, continue to commute to Jackson for work and school. Or send your kids to public school. I think they offer wood working and welding. Hunt moar. Read less. Buckshot MSU. MAGA

Anonymous said...

Attn 7;00 Apparently you have not had an opportunity to visit the Madison Ridgeland area in some time. The buildings are as large if not larger than the “ skyscrapers” in the Capitol city. The only real difference is the fact that these Madison county “skyscrapers” have companies moving into them instead of out of them.

Anonymous said...

what altar has allowed to happen with raw sewerage running into streams and the river are criminal- 1000x worse than this guy- lock him up!

Anonymous said...

That PR release will haunt them in his presentencing report. Duh. Don't hire politicians or ambulance chasers for Fed crim defense."Acceptance of responsibilty" "Remorse" Look it up, Andy/"PR" firm.

Anonymous said...

So, to recap: The company's representative pleads guilty followed by a statement from the company that it did nothing illegal.

Anonymous said...

I seem to remember from previous posts that this company was also caught illegally dumping hazardous waste water into Brandon and Pelahatchie sewers before they did the same in Jackson. I guess the statement they released assumes the public won’t know anything of their shady past. Hopefully these assholes get a big enough fine to put them out of business. The community doesn’t need these type of criminals operating.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it was all just a bad business decision. Should have passed on Rebel High Velocity and just greased the palms of Chok's and Socs and gone with Radical Low Expectations. Right.


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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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