Guilty Pleas for Federal Water Pollution Control Act Violations in the Upper Peninsula

MARQUETTE, MI—Carl L. Frazier, age 69, and Donald R. Frazier, age 70, both of Naubinway, Michigan, pled guilty to negligent discharge of pollutants without a permit, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. The two were owners and officers of Carl and Don Frazier, Incorporated, a corporation that pled guilty to the knowing discharge of a pollutant without a permit. The latter offense is a felony; the former a misdemeanor. Both offenses are violations of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, which is sometimes referred to as the Clean Water Act.

The guilty pleas followed a multi-year investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division (“EPA CID”) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (“FBI”).

The investigation revealed that Carl L. Frazier and Donald R. Frazier, who are brothers, launched Carl and Don Frazier, Incorporated in 1986. The corporation processed whitefish and other fish caught by various commercial fishermen. These fish were typically processed in a facility owned by the corporation. The fish offal (fish guts and other undesirable fish body parts) that was a byproduct of this processing was collected in 50 gallon barrels, each of which held 400-500 pounds of fish offal. Fish offal qualifies as a pollutant under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Beginning in the late 1990's, employees of the corporation, as well as Carl and Don Frazier themselves, began dumping these barrels of fish offal into the waters and onto the shoreline of Epoufette Bay, which is in Mackinac County, Michigan. The corporation did not have a permit under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act that would authorize such dumping.

Carl and Don Frazier individually will be subject to a minimum fine of $2,500 and a maximum fine of $100,000. The corporation faces a minimum fine of $5,000 and a maximum fine of $500,000. Under the terms of the plea agreements, Carl and Don Frazier have agreed to be personally liable for any fine imposed on the corporation. In addition, Carl and Don Frazier could be sentenced to up to a year in prison.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maarten Vermaat.