McWane Inc. to pay $4 million fine for polluting Avondale Creek
By Wade KwonAfter 4 years of legal battles, McWane Inc. pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The McWane Cast Iron Pipe facility had polluted Avondale Creek.
The pipe maker had been convicted in 2005 and fined $8 million, but that case was overturned. McWane pleaded guilty Friday in Huntsville federal court to nine felony violations and agreed to pay $4 million in fines and for the construction of a city park.
In April, McWane was fined $8 million for safety and environmental violations at its New Jersey plant. That case showed the company’s pattern of lying to regulators. In 2006, the company paid $3 million in fines for rigging air pollution tests and using equipment out of compliance at a Utah subsidiary.
PBS’ “Frontline” has investigated the company for years for its criminal activities, leading to injuries and deaths among its workers. Watch “A Dangerous Business” from 2003 and “A Dangerous Business Revisited” from 2008.
