Sinclair Tulsa Refining Company and two of its managers have plead guilty to deliberately manipulating wastewater discharges at a Tulsa Refinery so that the company could pass water quality tests.

Harmon Connell and John Kapura, two managers at the company (is a subsidiary of Sinclair Oil), face up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The company will pay a fine of $5.5 million for doctoring the flow of oil and grease into Arkansas River.

According to the EPA, the company redirected its normal discharges in 2002 and 2003 from the river to holding areas so that the company would pass tests to monitor water quality.

Good for the EPA for catching these bad actors and getting them to plea in criminal court. For many companies paying EPA fines are a cost of doing business, and only when officers face jail time will they stop circumventing environmental regulations. Also, if customers pay attention to infractions like these and take their business elsewhere it would send a strong message.