A company on the Cape Fear River pleaded guilty in federal court to dumping chemicals into the water not far from Wilmington, North Carolina.

American Distillation Inc. is a chemical processing company located outside of Wilmington in the town of Navassa. Federal prosecutors said the company knowingly polluted the river for almost five years.

“This was not an accident, and it was not a paperwork violation,” U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle said in a press release. 

“ADI deliberately decided to dump harmful chemicals into a North Carolina river to increase profits. When corporations choose pollution over safety, we will hold them criminally accountable and enforce the law without hesitation,” he said.

Earlier this year, Barry Darnell White, a former ADI plant manager, entered a separate guilty plea on behalf of the company, admitting to knowingly polluting the Cape Fear River, according to federal court officials. 

The company manufactures industrial grade ethyl alcohol, according to court records. 

ADI often accepts large quantities of tert-Butyl alcohol from their customers to distill. The chemical is a highly flammable, colorless, oily liquid with a strong smell of alcohol, prosecutors said. 

During the distillation process, ADI stores byproducts in a 250,000-gallon storage tank, and the Environmental Protection Agency requires the company to dispose of its byproduct properly, federal prosecutors said. The tank stores wastewater that contains TBOH, isopropyl alcohol and acetone mixed with water. 

However, beginning in 2019, ADI began accepting more TBOH than it could safely store and process, according to federal court documents. 

In an effort to increase profits without halting operations, White connected a hose to the tank, which drained directly into the Cape Fear River, according to prosecutors. 

Between 2020 and 2024, tens of thousands of gallons of chemically polluted wastewater was released into the river basin each year, court records say. 

“The Cape Fear River features diverse habitats, from freshwater streams to a vital saltwater estuary, supporting rare aquatic species and old-growth forests. The company’s multi-year illegal discharges of industrial waste poses a serious threat to the river’s water quality and is harmful to ecosystems,” said Chuck Carfagno, special agent in charge of the EPA’s criminal enforcement program in North Carolina. 

Federal court officials have also stated that company owner, Andrew J. Simmons Jr., has pleaded guilty to failing to pay federal taxes.

ADI is not the only company accused of polluting the Cape Fear River. 

In 2017, the Chemours Company was revealed to have been releasing PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” into the river and later agreed to clean up the contamination. 

The river basin is the drinking water supply for more than 500,000 people.