FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 6, 2002
Three
Arrested for Felony Dumping
--Accused of
illegally dumping raw sewage behind local shopping mall--
ORLANDO - The
Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division
of Law Enforcement arrested three individuals in Orlando
this afternoon for the alleged improper disposal of raw
human waste, which occurred at the Baywood Center strip
mall in Seminole County. Peter Morse, age 42, was charged
with one felony violation of the Florida litter law, while
David Delgado, age 43, and Carol McKay-Niles, age 58, were
charged with one felony violation each of principal in the
first degree to the Florida litter law.
Today’s
arrest is the culmination of a 14-month DEP investigation
of the Baywood Center strip mall in Longwood, which began
in September 2001 when a complaint was filed against
former mall employee, Peter Morse. The complaint alleged
that mall owner, Delgado, was involved in illegal
commercial dumping of raw sewage behind the mall property.
Morse provided investigators with a video of himself
illegally dumping the sewage in a trench behind the mall
at Delgado’s behest. Morse also said that he documented
the dumping activity in his daily work log and that most
of the orders came from Delgado through Carol McKay-Niles.
During the investigation, agents with DEP’s Division of
Law Enforcement conducted interviews and performed
surveillance to confirm the accusations, which led to the
execution of three arrest warrants issued by the State
Attorney’s Office in Seminole County.
Officials
from the Seminole County Department of Health assisted DEP
with the investigation.
No
arraignment date has been scheduled. The three felony
charges carry a possible penalty of 5 years in jail and/or
a $5,000 fine for each count.
This
investigation was a multiagency effort and part of the
on-going Environmental Crimes Strike Force initiative
created by DEP Secretary David B. Struhs and led by DEP
Division of Law Enforcement Director Tom Tramel. This
initiative has so far resulted in the investigation of
over 2,300 criminal environmental cases since the year
2000.
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Press Office
