Waste
Proposed hotline aimed at bottle bill fraud
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Some Michigan lawmakers and environmental advocates want to create a hotline to stop retailers from fraudulently cashing in on the state’s beverage container deposit law.
Wildlife
New York man imprisoned for trafficking African wild cats
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An Amherst, N.Y., man has received an 18-month prison sentence for trafficking exotic African cats, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo.
Wildlife
Backyard birders get a win in the Michigan legislature
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Fewer Michigan residents with sloppy backyard birds could be ticketed for potentially spreading disease among deer and elk under a bill the state Senate recently sent to the governor’s desk.
Echo
Business rivals indicted for ginseng trafficking
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A federal grand jury has indicted two business rivals in Western Pennsylvania for alleged interstate trafficking in wild ginseng, a perennial herb whose root is valued for its reputed aphrodisiac and medicinal properties, including as a panacea or cure-all for some diseases.
Echo
Guilty plea expected in Allegheny River pollution case
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A former supervisor of a Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority plant is expected to plead guilty to a felony charge for allegedly ordering employees to discharge sludge into the Allegheny River.
Echo
Poached black bear lands Minnesota poacher behind bars
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Sept. 1, 2019, was a deadly day for a 700-pound black bear illegally shot with a compound bow near a garbage dump on Minnesota’s Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Echo
Feds file conspiracy charges against owner, manager, of Buffalo properties with long-running lead paint violations
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Federal authorities have charged the owner and manager of more than 100 buildings in Buffalo with conspiracy for violating laws intended to protect tenants from lead paint poisoning.
Echo
Skullduggery at the border: Feds crack skull-smuggling operation
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The owner of the Old Cavern Boutique in Montreal has been arrested on charges of illegally trafficking in wildlife parts and sending them from Canada into the United States.
Contaminants
Michigan polluter ordered to jail for illegally discharging untreated waste
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By Eric Freedman
A federal judge has sentenced a Flint, Michigan, polluter to one year behind bars for illegally discharging more than 47 million gallons of untreated waste into the city’s sewer system. Robert Massey, the 70-year-old president and owner of family-owned Oil Chem Inc., pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act over an 8½ year period between 2007 and 2015. “That amounts to over 72 Olympic-size swimming pools. The crime was driven by greed. Oil Chem received over a million dollars to dispose of the (material),” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in its sentencing memorandum to U.S. District Judge Stephanie Davis.
Echo
Canadian shipping company fined for dumping oily bilge water into Lake Ontario
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An Ontario shipping company has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine and to implement an environmental compliance program after accepting responsibility for the illegal dumping of 11,887 gallons of oily bilge water into Lake Ontario.