Co-Owner of Brandon Business Pleads Guilty to Clean Water Act Violation

Jackson, Miss. – 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.