NAVASSA, N.C. (WNCN) — Nearly a year after the production manager at a chemical processing company in North Carolina pleaded guilty to polluting the Cape Fear River, the company itself has also pleaded guilty, federal prosecutors said Monday.
According to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, American Distillation, Inc., a chemical processing company in Navassa, outside Wilmington, was under investigation for knowingly discharging tert-butyl alcohol and other pollutants into the Cape Fear River, a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
In addition to the company pleading guilty to the pollution discharge, according to federal prosecutors, owner Andrew J. Simmons, Jr. pleaded guilty to failing to pay federal taxes…