Recycling company CEO enters guilty plea in environmental pollution case

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The CEO of a recycling company based in Colorado County recently entered a guilty plea related to an environmental pollution case dating back to 2019, according to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.

Inland Recycling, LLC CEO David Polston pleaded guilty to the offense of Intentional or Knowing Unauthorized Discharge.

According to the DA’s office, in April 2019 Polston allowed his Inland Recycling, an oil and gas recycling facility located in Colorado County, to discharge industrial wastewater into Skull Creek, which feeds into the Colorado River and is located on Highway 71.

Polston and the company were indicted in late 2021 by a Travis County grand jury for Intentional or Knowing Unauthorized Discharge, a third-degree felony.

The DA’s office said the discharge did not comply with the required permits or by an order issued or a rule adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

As part of the guilty plea, the company was fined $75,000. In an agreement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Colorado County, 75% of the fine ($56,250) will be tendered to Colorado County and the remainder ($18,750) to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, according to the DA.

Though it happened in Colorado County, the venue for prosecution of an alleged violation under the Texas Water Code allowed the case to be prosecuted in Travis County.

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