A Newtown business owner has been charged with contempt of court after failing to follow through with a court-ordered plan to clean up waste illegally dumped on a property owned by his company, according to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Doug Evans, who was convicted in a scheme to fraudulently secure minority business contracts, used Evans Landscaping and three other businesses to illegally discard waste and construction and demolition debris, potentially polluting the Little Miami River, at properties on Mount Carmel, Broadwell and Round Bottom roads, according to a 2021 lawsuit.
As part of a consent order approved by the court in September 2022, Evans agreed to correct the violations and clean up the properties in accordance with a plan authorized by the Ohio EPA and the Hamilton County Health District, officials said.
He was also ordered to pay $550,000, with a quarter of that money going to the Little Miami Conservancy.
Investigators with Hamilton County Public Health observed violations of the waste removal plan during several visits this month to the Broadwell Road property, the attorney general’s office said in a Monday court filing.
Excavation is underway at the Broadwell site, but Evans stopped removing debris and has left it lying on the ground, officials said, adding he also failed to submit mandatory progress reports.
Evans Landscaping says it intends to oppose the charges. In a statement, the company said it worked with Hamilton County Public Health and the Ohio EPA for months on a plan to remove debris from the Broadwell property, but the agencies refused to approve its proposed plan and imposed a plan that is “unworkable in the field.”
Five proposed removal plans, all containing deficiencies, were submitted by Evans and his businesses before the agencies issued their own plan in June, the attorney general’s office said.
The company also says agency representatives have improperly classified hardfill, such as concrete, asphalt, brick, block, tile and stone, as construction and demolition debris.
“Compliance is not optional,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement. “Doug Evans needs to clean up the community menace he created or face the consequences.”
The attorney general’s office is asking the court to impose a sentence of 30 days in jail and fines, the maximum penalty under state law. Officials say the charges are intended to ensure Evans meets the timeline of the removal plan, which could by completed by the end of the year.
“Evans Landscaping was attempting to resolve these disputes through good faith negotiations when the state filed its contempt charges,” the company’s statement reads. “It is always Evans Landscaping’s intent to comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations and address concerns from state and local environmental agencies responsibly.”
Evans was convicted of multiple conspiracy and wire fraud charges in December 2018 and sentenced to 21 months in prison.
After a failed appeal and a request to the court to further delay the execution of his sentence due to fears he might die from COVID-19 in prison, Evans reported to federal prison in June 2021.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was transferred to a Cincinnati residential reentry management field office later that year. Those under the care of these offices are typically in residential programs or placed on home confinement.