The Inter-Mountain photo Elkins Metal Recycling owner Andrew Gongola recently plead no contest to charges of polluting the Tygart Valley River.

The Inter-Mountain photo
Elkins Metal Recycling owner Andrew Gongola recently plead no contest to charges of polluting the Tygart Valley River.

ELKINS — A local business owner recently pleaded no contest in a court case regarding West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection violations.

Andrew Gongola, owner of Elkins Metal Recycling, LLC, pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charges of industrial waste in excess of permit and compliance with orders of director, while an additional charge of misrepresentation of material fact in an application, report, plan or document filed to the DEP was dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement with the state.

According to court documents, Gongola was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation in addition to paying fines and court costs for the charges and $15,000 in restitution for permit violation fees to the West Virginia DEP at the time of the plea agreement.

Michael Kanehl, an environmental inspector for the DEP, stated that the violations originated from several inspections beginning in 2012, which led to an order from the DEP in 2013.

Kanehl said the first charge against Gongola related to polluting state waters 30 times from Sept. 20, 2016, to September 2018, in violation of the business’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), a permit program addressing water pollution by way of regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waterways.

“The pollution discharged into the Tygart Valley River consisted of aluminum, iron, copper, lead and zinc,” Kanehl stated in an email exchange with The Inter-Mountain.

In regard to the second charge, Kanehl said Gongola failed to comply with a DEP order, noting, “Mr. Gongola entered into an agreement with the DEP in 2012 to label containers, dispose of leaking equipment and provide secondary containment for tanks (and) drums.”

Gongola’s legal counsel, Attorney Harry Smith, provided a written statement to The Inter-Mountain in reference to the case, noting that efforts to install a new water filtration system at the business are planned to occur when the weather permits.

“Mr. Gongola entered no contest pleas on Feb. 4, 2020, to misdemeanor charges that during the time period ended September 2018, certain effluents exceeded some DEP standards, notwithstanding diligent and conscientious efforts to comply with those standards. A major water filtration system is now on site and will be installed as soon as weather permits; it is envisioned that this system will address all future DEP compliance concerns,” Smith said.