A Kentucky man in 2015 illegally managed transport and disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) waste, a federal grand jury charged on July 16.
Cory David Hoskins, of West Liberty, Ky., faces a total of 27 criminal counts: five for fraud and 22 for violation of hazardous materials law and regulations – representing 22 waste shipments from July to August 2015.
Hoskins was the operator of Advanced TENORM and the affiliated BES LLC, which in 2015 secured a contract with Fairmont Brine Processing, of Fairmont, W.Va., for transport of radioactive sludge from an oil and gas waste processing plant in West Virginia, according to the indictment in the Eastern District of Kentucky. The waste should have been designated as low-specific activity, a Class 7 hazardous material under Department of Transportation regulations.
The material was trucked to a solidification facility in Ashland, Ky., and finally to disposal in Irvine, Ky. Hoskins allegedly subcontracted that work to trucking companies and drivers.
“HOSKINS falsely represented to Fairmont Brine that Advanced TENORM was comprised of Ph.D. nuclear physicists, engineers, and other experts in sludge management,” according to the indictment, first reported by the Lexington Herald Leader. “HOSKINS falsely represented to Fairmont Brine that Advanced TENORM would transport the vacuum boxes from Fairmont, West Virginia to Ashland, Kentucky via U.S. DOT compliant trucks. HOSKINS falsely represented that he would lawfully complete the solidification of the material and dispose of it in a landfill in Irvine, Kentucky.”
TENORM is naturally radioactive material that has come into contact with the environment or has been concentrated as a result of human activities, including oil and natural gas production.
Hoskins knew the TENORM waste was covered under Department of Transportation hazardous materials regulations, via the agency’s authority under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, the indictment says. Packaging for the low-level waste was required to be specifically labeled for transport.
To save money, Hoskins reportedly hired subcontractors that did not have the necessary transport endorsements from the Transportation Department. He did not inform those companies and drivers of the nature of the material they were carrying, knowing the Ashland facility was not authorized to “transport, treat, or store hazardous material,” it adds. The vacuum boxes that held the waste and the motor carriers also did not have the correct signage.
Hoskins also allegedly faked manifests to make it appear the material being transported to disposal in Irvine was nonhazardous, the indictment says. The facility was not set up for disposal of hazardous radioactive waste, according to federal authorities.
In total, Hoskins received $127,110 in payment in five checks, from September to December 2015, for activities related to the violations of federal law, the indictment says. The Justice Department seeks to reclaim that amount.
Hoskins, along with both of his companies, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March 2017.
The fraud charges each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. The other counts each have a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
