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Before he was sentenced for causing millions of dollars in damage with toxic waste, Alan D. Hersh had plenty to say.
He chatted with attorneys and investigators inside the massive U.S. District Court room Monday afternoon, talking about driving with his dog in the car and making small talk about Indiana industry.
But when U.S. District Judge Theresa Springmann asked him whether he had anything to say before she sentenced him to 15 months in federal prison and ordered him to start paying immediately on $1.7 million in restitution, Hersh fell silent.
And when approached in the hallway after his hearing for comment on the environmental disaster he created at the former Fort Wayne-based Hassan Barrel Co., he offered no more than a grunt and a dismissive wave of his hand.
So the last word went to Springmann, who in court and in a 12-page sentencing memorandum found Hersh's remorse and understanding of the damage he caused less than complete or convincing.
And she was unmoved by his insistence through his court-appointed lawyer in the year since his guilty plea that Hersh deserved leniency because he had been suffering from depression that he said left him with diminished mental capacity when he committed his crime.
That crime involved walking away from the company's 7-acre Summer Street site, leaving thousands of barrels leaking paint wastes and caustic chemicals and open pits where the company apparently dumped hazardous material into the ground, according to court documents.
The Hassan Barrel site was a few blocks from Adams Elementary School. The soil at the abandoned facility is contaminated with what leaked from the barrels, including butanone, ethyl-benzene and toluene, cadmium, chromium, lead and mercury. The chemicals cause a range of health problems from cancer to kidney and liver damage and lung problems.
At last tally in November, the Environmental Protection Agency had spent $1.7 million on cleanup at the site.
Hersh, in his late 50s, also asked for a lenient sentence so he could remain at his elderly mother's home in Waxhaw, N.C., to care for her.
Springmann, however, said in her written ruling that Hersh's behavior was no "mere paperwork offense, but rather a case of actual criminal pollution." She said Hersh seemed indifferent to the consequences of his actions and "appeared to be bemused in hearing of (Environmental Protection Agency Special) Agent (John) Singler's lengthy investigation and search for him."
Hersh will have three years of supervised release after his prison sentence and is ordered to make restitution payments of at least $200 a month.
For now, he remains free on bond and will report to the Bureau of Prisons at a date yet to be determined.
It could take him more than 700 years to repay the Environmental Protection Agency for the cost of the cleanup if he consistently made the minimum payments.
Randy Ashe, special agent in charge of the criminal investigation division of the EPA's Chicago area office, said the sentence was fair, even if Hersh cannot pay the entire restitution amount.
"For the rest of his life he'll be paying some kind of money," Ashe said. "At least it will be a monthly message as he's writing his check."
Journal Gazette reporter Dan Stockman contributed to this story.
