The former CEO of a New London company has pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. According to federal prosecutors, the infractions date back to 1986 and involve toxic discharges into the city's sewer system.
The Clean Water Act says a company must obtain a permit before it can discharge industrial wastewater into public sewers. According to federal prosecutors, Thomas Fariaignored that. He's the former CEO of Sheffield Pharmaceuticals, a New London company he took over in 2003 that employs about 150 workers.
Prosecutors said Faria's company had been violating the Clean Water Act since 1986, dumping toxic chemicals like zinc into New London's sewer system. Those chemicals then made their way into the Thames River. Employees alerted Faria to the violation, but prosecutors said he made no effort to comply with the law until 2011, when the company installed a $200,000 treatment system.
Faria will be sentenced in October. He faces a series of fines and up to three years in prison. Read the plea agreement here.
