FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Two men from Fond du Lac County have been charged in connection with the improper disposal and storage of hazardous waste.
In a news release Tuesday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice announced the allegations against 82-year-old Leonard Hughes of Fond du Lac and 25-year-old Zachary Ballard of Brandon.
According to the criminal complaint, in the summer of 2022, Hughes used semi-trailers to transport fluorescent bulbs that contained mercury — some of which qualified as hazardous waste due to their high mercury levels.
Hughes allegedly hired Ballard to dispose of one of the trailers of bulbs on private property. The complaint says Ballard “used heavy equipment to move the bulbs and push them into a stream on the property, breaking many of the bulbs in the process.”
Wardens with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources found two additional semi-trailers at another location in Fond du Lac County which contained approximately 30,000 fluorescent bulbs.
Hughes is charged with:
- Two counts of transporting hazardous waste without a license (F)
- Two counts of obstructing a warden (M)
- One count of storing hazardous waste without a license (F)
- One count of felony bail jumping (F)
Ballard is charged with two counts, both misdemeanors.
- One count of depositing garbage, refuse and deleterious substances into state waters
- One count of misdemeanor bail jumping
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