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Ex-Chesco public works official pleads guilty to illegal dumping

A former public-works director in Chester County has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years' probation on charges of illegally dumping chemicals, according to a state prosecutor.

A former public-works director in Chester County has pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years' probation on charges of illegally dumping chemicals, according to a state prosecutor.

Scott Cannon, 57, of Glen Mills, Delaware County, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the Clean Streams Act for illegally disposing of magnesium chloride in the fall of 2012 while he worked for Tredyffrin Township.

Cannon must pay $10,000 to Tredyffrin to reimburse the town for the fine it paid to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, according to a plea agreement a judge accepted Friday at the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester. Cannon also must pay $10,000 to the state's Clean Water Fund, prosecutor Rebecca Franz said.

Three witnesses said they saw Cannon open a valve and release magnesium chloride from a large tank at the township's public works facility, according to a criminal complaint. The chemicals flowed into a dry pond and killed vegetation, investigators said.

Magnesium chloride, which Tredyffrin used to treat salt spread on roads during winter, was supposed to be disposed of in an government-approved landfill.

When Chester County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody asked Cannon why he dumped the chemicals, Cannon said he was trying to move the tank and that it was too heavy with all the chemicals inside, Franz said.

Franz, a deputy attorney general in the Environmental Crimes Unit, called the outcome "a fair resolution" that protects the environment.

Cannon's attorney, Alexander Chotkowski, said he would release a statement later Tuesday.