RD Secaucus LLC, the corporate parent of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, was indicted on Sept. 2 for allegedly illegally dumping wastewater into the Hackensack River. The wastewater allegedly included raw sewage.
RD Secaucus is charged with unlawful discharge of a pollutant in violation of the Clean Water Act. The charge is a third-degree offense. The company could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
The state was first alerted to the alleged dumping in May 2008 after Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan received an anonymous tip about the dumping and contacted the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.
According to the indictment, hotel staffers regularly dumped hundreds of gallons of contaminated wastewater into the river using an elaborately designed pump connected to a hose that allegedly fed the dirty water into the Hackensack.
The alleged dumping took place from Jan. 1, 2008 through June 8, 2008, according to the indictment.
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