Company, men fined for polluting South Elgin creek

A South Elgin company and two of its associates have been fined $22,500 for dumping an acidic substance into a local storm sewer, officials said Friday.

Yu Tan Zheng, 35, and An Hong, 32, both of Elburn, along with Zheng's company, D&Y Trade Inc., were indicted in May after alkylbenzene sulfonic acid wound up in a creek on the 1100 block of North La Fox Street in South Elgin.

The case, prosecuted by the Illinois attorney general's office, was resolved Oct. 20 when both men pleaded guilty to water pollution, a Class A misdemeanor. Zheng's company also pleaded guilty, but to felony pollution, officials said.

As a result of their convictions, the men were each fined $1,250 and sentenced to 18 months of probation and 100 hours of community service, according to court records. D&Y Trade Inc. was ordered to pay fines totaling $17,500 to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Midwest Environmental Association and the Village of South Elgin. The company also is on a probationary status.

Zheng and Hong had been accused of pouring the acidic substance from a 55-gallon drum into a storm drain in a parking lot at the business. The incident was brought to the attention of police by a man who noticed suds and dying fish in a nearby creek, which feeds into the Fox River.

Scott Mulford, an attorney general spokesman, said Friday that the fines were “agreed to by all parties” affected by the situation.

A representative at D&Y Trade said Friday night that Zheng was out of the country an unavailable for comment.

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