Litterbugs beware.
Taking a page from the FBI’s playbook, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday debuted its own online most-wanted list for the world’s worst alleged environmental offenders, even as the agency is catching fewer criminals, reports Dina Cappiello of the Associated Press.
Published on the agency’s Web site, the list names the U.S. government’s 23 most sought-after eco-fugitives – complete with mug shots – charged with crimes against nature ranging from smuggling ozone-depleting chemicals to illegal dumping or storing of hazardous waste.
If caught, many people on the list face years in prison and up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
“They are charged with environmental crimes and they should be brought before the criminal justice system and have their day in court,” said Pete Rosenberg, EPA’s criminal enforcement division director.
Fewer are getting there, however. EPA officials this year opened 319 criminal enforcement cases, compared with 425 in 2004. And the agency charged 176 defendants with environmental crimes in 2008, the fewest in five years.