Settlement calls for men to pay city $265K

The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday approved a $265,000 settlement  agreement with two men who operated a battery recycling factory that released high levels of lead into the city’s sewer system and were convicted of violating hazardous waste laws.

Aldermen unanimously approved the agreements with Bernard “Barney” Bannon  of Port and Robert Strange of Grafton following a 15-minute closed session Tuesday night.

The agreement calls for Bannon to pay $250,000 plus interest and Strange to pay $15,000 to the city as restitution.

According to the agreement, the money will help pay for $320,000 in costs incurred by the city from July 2017 to March 2018 to collect, test, treat, store and dispose of hazardous waste deposited into the city sewers by Braxt Corp., owned by Bannon at 740 W. Oakland Ave.

The funds will also cover some of the cost of processing contaminated sludge that resulted from processing the waste at the city’s wastewater treatment plant and other wastewater treatment plants, according to the agreement.

The agreement requires Bannon to pay the city $150,000 within 30 days. The remaining money should be paid via a fixed-rate note secured by a mortgage on Bannon’s house that will be repaid in 12 months.

Strange is to pay $15,000 to the city through a check drawn on the trust account of his attorney, Alex Flynn, within 30 days.

If the lump-sum isn’t paid on time or is not deemed acceptable by the city, the agreement with Strange will be null and void and the city may ask the Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the criminal cases against the men, to schedule a restitution hearing.

A restitution hearing in Ozaukee County Circuit Court had been scheduled for May 26 but it was adjourned pending approval of the settlement agreement with the city.

In May 2020, the men were charged with violating hazardous waste laws.

Bannon, who was originally charged with felony counts of storing and transporting hazardous waste without permits, reached a plea deal with prosecutors and in December pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of violating asbestos removal and disposal laws.

He was sentenced to one year in jail, but Judge Steve Cain stayed the sentence and put him on probation for 36 months.

A third charge of violating hazardous waste storage laws was dismissed at the request of prosecutors as part of the agreement but read into the record for purposes of sentencing and restitution.

Strange, who was charged with seven felony counts of mishandling hazardous waste, pleaded guilty to one felony count of storing hazardous waste without a license. Cain withheld a prison sentence, placed Strange on probation for four years and ordered him to serve 60 days in the county jail.

The case dates to 2017, when a routine test of sludge at the wastewater treatment plant showed it contained levels of lead “well in excess” of what is allowed by the city’s permit, according to the criminal complaint.

The lead was traced to a former factory owned by Bannon and his wife and operated as PW Industrial Spaces.

The factory space was divided and leased as suites, one of which was used by Braxt Corp. to dismantle lead-acid and nickel-cadium batteries. The battery component — sulfuric acid stored in 275-gallon totes, lead plates and plastic cases, all classified as hazardous waste — were stored on site until Bannon and Strange could find buyers for them or dispose of them, according to court documents.

During a search of Bannon’s property, authorities discovered asbestos pipe insulation that had been removed during renovations supervised by Bannon, who intentionally failed to notify the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources of the removal and failed to follow emission control and waste treatment regulations, according to the plea agreement.