Owner Admits Illegal Dumping

The owner of an El Dorado plastics recycling company will be sentenced March 30 for dumping hazardous waste chemicals.

Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Brian Riley, of Andover, also was ordered to pay $118,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency. Riley pleaded guilty Monday to negligent exposure to a hazardous air pollutant.

U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom said in a news release that Riley admitted storing paints, solvents and other chemicals containing ethyl benzene, an air pollutant, at his Integrated Plastics Solutions company.

After realizing the state was investigating the company’s waste handling, Riley had some paints and solvents dumped on the company’s grounds, exposing employees to the pollutant and a risk of explosion.

He faces a maximum penalty of a year in federal prison.