NJ Man Sentenced For Causing Oil Spill After Emptying Pool

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Gloucester County man to five years' probation for causing an oil spill after using a vacuum truck to empty his swimming pool.

The judge also ordered 48-year-old John Caldwell of Washington Township to perform 150 hours of community service and pay more than $7,000 in fines and overtime.

Caldwell pleaded guilty to violating the state's water pollution control act and causing or risking widespread injury or damage.

Prosecutors say Caldwell borrowed a vacuum truck from work to empty his pool and discharge it into a storm drain in June 2014. What he did not know was the truck tank contained oil, which ended up in Mantua Creek and Spring Lake after the discharge.

Caldwell was fired from his job.

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