Al Capone, head of the most profitable crime syndicate of the Prohibition Era and mastermind of the notorious 1929 “Valentine’s Day Massacre,” seemed above the law. In 1931, Capone was convicted not of crimes related to bootlegging , extortion or murder, but rather for failing to pay income tax.
Al Capone once complained about the bad reputation of his criminal enterprise: “Some call it bootlegging. Some call it racketeering. I call it a business.”
On Friday, June 6, Brian Bolus and other members of his family were indicted on insurance fraud, theft and “related counts” connected with doing business.
The Bolus businesses were also charge and include: Minuteman Environmental Services Inc., Minuteman Spill Response, Inc., Minuteman Towing Inc., Bolus Truck Parts and Towing Services Inc., Key Brockway Inc., Key Sales and Center Inc.
According to the Bolus’ attorney the charges are unwarranted and figments of imagination. The Bolus family was just conducting business. Fracketeering.
TO RECAP
In May of 2013, Minuteman Environmental Services (MES) was raided by Federal and State agents from the IRS, FBI, PA Attorney General’s office and Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Agents were at the plant for more than 9 hours and seen carrying out boxes and boxes of presumably files, documents and other records. Reports also stated agents were combing over every inch of the plant.
Meanwhile, outside, workers from the Milton Regional Sewer Authority and agents were seen opening up and inspecting sewers near the MES facility. The presence of DEP and inspecting of sewers became the focus of attention for many fractivists, as MES cleans up toxic waste spill from natural gas spills, leaks as part of its services.
MEDIA IGNORES ENVIRONMENT
When the story broke the media focused on the insurance fraud, theft and overbilling charges. For the most part the media ignored the environmental violation which actually spurred the initial investigation and the subsequent raid.
This is where the Capone Congruency comes into play. While investigating environmental violations, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office stumbled over the other crimes.
The insurance fraud and theft charges are in Part 2 of the indictment and so far this is where the media is focused. For those who have been following the story, based just on the news reports , it appears similar to charging Capone with tax evasion as opposed to his other crimes. However, in the Bolus case, Bolus and his businesses were also charged with Environmental crimes.
In Part-1 of the 50-page indictment: ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES AND RELATED OFFENSES, charges include:
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE INDICTMENT.
Few highlights:
- Investigation revealed that Minuteman and Bolus unlawfully buried waste from accident sites. Minuteman did NOT have a permit for disposal of waste onto the surface of the ground or underground or into waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
- Waste from inside one truck was tested for Radiation. Results showed the amount of radioactive waste was well above acceptable limits. Drain pipes from Minuteman leading to town sewer drains were both tested and found to have substances consistent with drilling waste.
- Rolloff boxes (similar to the ones used at drill sites or “recycling frack water” facilities) regularly leaked.
- Water samples collected from standing puddles of water were also taken and found to have substances consistent with drilling waste.
- Employees were told to bury some of the waste at a few hazmat cleanup operations.
ENVIRONMENT OR FRAUD?
Which charges should have been the focus of the news reports depends on where you stand on the issue of drilling in Pennsylvania. Given the amount of advertising money pouring into media outlets across Pennsylvania from natural gas corporations, it’s just “good business” to downplay or ignore the environmental charges and focus on the others. After all, the natural gas corporations are spending millions of dollars to tell us how safe and clean their operations are and there are no hazardous environmental concerns.
A quick Google search for “natural gas waste illegal dumping” will bring up a hundreds of stories. Keep in mind what natural gas waste that has been buried will eventually find its way into your water and food.
Go ahead and run your own Google search to find out what’s been buried.
I bet you will find more than Geraldo Rivera did when excavating Capone’s vaults. Rivera may have only found dirt and old bottles, but the fossil fuel industry buries a lot more.
© 2014 by Dory Hippauf
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