Father, Sons Sentenced To Year For Dumping Hazardous Waste

A father and his two sons were sentenced to a year in prison and their Everett steel company was ordered to pay restitution of about $500,000 for dumping hundreds of drums of hazardous paint waste in southwest Washington and Oregon.

Before imposing sentence yesterday, U.S. District Judge William Dwyer said he was mindful of the exemplary lives - with the exception of their environmental crime - led by Manney Berman, 71, and his sons, Leonard, 38, and Leon, 33.

Though theirs was a "white-collar" crime, the judge said they had committed a serious offense that had the potential for "very serious consequences." To deter others, it is the court's duty "to make plain that environmental crimes of this nature are serious," Dwyer said.

The sentencing was delayed for 45 minutes while the Bermans decided if they wanted to withdraw guilty pleas they had entered last January.

The deal appeared to hit the skids last week when defense attorneys filed court papers accusing the government of a "misguided prosecution" by seeking criminal sanctions instead of civil remedies against a small family's struggling business.

The U.S. attorney's office, the defense contended, was more interested in a "well-timed press conference" than seeking justice. Lawyers on both sides were struck by the degree of bitterness and acrimony.

At the start of yesterday's hearing, Dwyer gave the Bermans a chance to change their pleas.

The judge said he couldn't recall another case in which the parties had reached an agreement then one side urged a sentence different than what the agreement called for.

After a recess, the defendants decided to accept the punishment outlined in the plea agreement. None addressed the judge before he imposed sentence.

The government contended the Bermans, eager to dispose of hazardous waste on the cheap, turned a blind eye to unrealistically low rates they were quoted by unqualified contractors. Three men who actually hauled and dumped the waste are being prosecuted separately.

The Bermans contended they were duped by the contractors, but the government said no amount of "crying . . . will erase the fact that (the Bermans) were aware of their obligations and chose to ignore them."

Manney Berman was president, and his sons vice presidents, of Panama Machinery and Equipment, Inc., which did business as the Everett Steel Companies. Investigators found more than 300 55-gallon drums full of metal-laden waste abandoned at a Klickitat County cow pasture and a trailer company in Mollala, Ore.

In addition to the one-year prison terms imposed on the three Bermans, their corporation was ordered to pay more than $497,000 to the Environmental Protection Agency and more than $3,600 to the state Department of Ecology.