A North Lawrence man was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury with violating the Clean Water Act by dumping wastewater into tributaries of the Tuscarawas River.
Adam D. Boylen, 45, was indicted on four counts of violating the water act.
“This defendant willingly dumped wastewater into streams, fouling the water and killing aquatic life,” U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon said in a news release.
Boylen was a driver working for an Ohio-based trucking company. His job was to load wastewater from corporate facilities into a tanker truck and drive it to a designated facility in Pennsylvania for disposal. The wastewater contained substances capable of killing fish and vegetation, according to the press release.
Instead of delivering the wastewater to Pennsylvania, Boylen drove the truck to locations in Tuscarawas County and central-eastern Ohio on numerous occasions in April and May and dumped it into two tributaries of the Tuscarawas River, according to the press release.
White foam flowed down the tributaries after the wastewater was dumped. In one instance, the foam traveled four miles downstream, killing vegetation and wildlife. About 700 fish were killed in one of the tributaries as well as about 3,200 minnows, crayfish, frogs, and tadpoles, according to the press release.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Sara Lioi in Akron.