LAFAYETTE, La. (9/21/2017) – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a New Orleans man pleaded guilty Tuesday to directing employees to discharge a pollutant into a canal that feeds the Vermilion River.

Aldes K. “Al” Vidrine III, 52, of New Orleans, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carol Whitehurst on one count of unlawful discharge of a pollutant into a water of the United States. According to the guilty plea, Vidrine, who worked as a manager at the Abbeville Omega Protein Inc. plant, directed employees on February 1, 2016 to place a hose in a treatment pond and drain process water from the plant’s treatment pond into a canal that emptied into the Vermilion River.

Vidrine faces up to one year in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of not less than $2,500 or more than $25,000 per day of the violation. The court set a January 11, 2018 sentencing date.

The criminal investigation divisions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Abendroth is prosecuting the case.