Springfield man gets probation in 'goofy situation' involving ditching 55-gallon drums
A plan to turn old 55-gallon drums into burn or barbecue barrels became a "goofy situation" when the barrels, some of which still contained some substances, were instead abandoned along roadways in western Erie County, the lawyer for one of the men involved in the incident said in court on Wednesday.
That decision earned one of the men involved a year of probation and 100 hours of community service.
David B. Cassady, 61, of West Springfield, told Erie County Judge John J. Mead he was sorry for his actions as he stood before the judge for sentencing on his guilty plea to a second-degree felony count of unauthorized processing of hazardous waste.
Mead told Cassady the sentencing could have gone very badly for him because of the high guidelines on the charge.
"We take environmental crimes very seriously, and I think you are taking it seriously," the judge told him.
Mead ordered Cassady to serve the first 30 days of his restrictive punishment sentence on electronic monitoring and to do 100 hours of community service.
More: State accuses trio of ditching drums with hazardous waste in parts of western Erie County
Cassady was one of three men charged in January 2023 by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigations Environmental Crimes Section in an investigation launched in June of 2019. The Pennsylvania State Police and the state Department of Environmental Protection were also involved in the probe.
Property owner makes discovery
Authorities accused Cassady, Erie resident Allen D. Simmer and Erie resident Richard J. Gomolekoff of illegally disposing of 55-gallon drums that were taken from a business in Lawrence Park Township but left abandoned along four roadways in Springfield Township and one roadway in Girard Township, according to information in the criminal complaints filed against the accused.
Authorities were first alerted to the drums when a property owner in Girard Township reported the find to state police, according to investigators.
Investigators wrote in the complaints that some of the recovered drums contained liquid waste with flashpoints at a level that classified the material as hazardous waste.
Authorities wrote that Simmer told investigators he had Cassady and Gomolekoff clean up the barrels from behind the business. He said he paid Cassady to do the cleanup, and instructed the two men to not remove any barrels with contents in them, according to the complaints.
The plan was to either scrap the barrels or turn them into burn barrels, according to authorities. Cassady's lawyer, Richard Filippi, said in court Wednesday that the barrels were going to be taken to a person to be made into barbecue barrels.
Investigators wrote in the complaints that Cassady told them he transported the barrels in hopes of making it to the scrap yard before it closed, and that after learning they would not make it in time they decided to get rid of the drums.
Filippi told Mead his client was not in the business of dumping chemicals around the county. He said it was a goofy situation, as Cassady did not know what he was doing.
"No matter what, it was not proper," Filippi said.
Deputy Attorney General Shane Crevar said he agreed Cassady was not in the business of disposing waste.
"Just some bad decisions all around," Crevar said.
Simmer, 64, pleaded guilty in June to two third-degree misdemeanor counts of unlawful conduct and was sentenced to two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay more than $21,000 in fines and costs, according to court records.
The case against Gomolekoff, 56, has not been resolved and is scheduled for trial in March, according to court records.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Springfield PA man gets probation for ditching 55-gallon drums
