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Texas man sentenced for dumping toxic chemicals around Albuquerque
Barrels and glasses of chemicals recovered by authorities in 2018 after a Texas man dumped them around Albuquerque and the South Valley.
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A Texas man was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for dumping laboratory grade chemicals in residential back alleys, behind strip malls and outside a public park in Albuquerque and the South Valley.
Daniel Winard, 52, was sentenced in U.S. District Court of New Mexico for knowing endangerment in the storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals without a permit.
Winard dumped chemicals including cyanide, yellow phosphorus, calcium carbide and thionyl chloride, some of which can harm both humans and the environment, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Mexico.
According to the release, Winard said after dumping the chemicals that “some dumb (expletive) fireman” might find the hazardous waste and “get the surprise of his life.”
Some of the chemicals can react “violently” to water and release poisonous gas, the release said.
No one was injured by the chemicals, according to the release. The city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County spent more than $198,600 to clean up the dumped chemicals, the release detailed.
The chemicals originally belonged to a chemist who worked for a local energy company, the release detailed. A photo of the property shows 16 large blue barrels marked with yellow hazard signs, surrounded by dozens of amber glasses. Winard inherited that property, and its scores of chemicals, according to the release.
When Winard contacted local government officials about how to dispose of the chemicals, he learned it was costly and instead elected to dump them in nine different locations around Albuquerque and the South Valley in the summer of 2018.
Winard took a plea deal in April, admitting fault to one count and shedding additional charges. He was also ordered to pay $9,527 in restitution.
“There is no excuse for putting lives, property, and the environment at risk by dumping hazardous chemicals,” Ryan Ellison, U.S. attorney for New Mexico, said in a statement Thursday. “We will not tolerate reckless disregard for our communities’ safety. Those who endanger others for their own convenience can expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
