Investigators within the Criminal Investigation Section of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality have arrested a Lake Charles man and booked him in connection with the dumping of 200 gallons of gas into a retention pond.
Dean Garrett Domingue, 54, was booked with two counts of knowingly disposing of gasoline into a stormwater retention pond. Under Louisiana law, knowingly discharging a substance that could endanger human life or health in contravention of Department regulations is a felony.
Investigators say his alleged accomplice, David Mouton, 51, Mouton remains at large while wanted on two counts of knowingly discharging a substance that could endanger human life or health.
Both men are accused of illegally discharging 200 gallons of a gasoline and water mixture into a stormwater retention pond behind the Albertson’s Grocery Store on Country Club Road in Lake Charles, a DEQ spokesman said.
The alleged incident happened on the night of January 23, 2017.
After this incident, representatives from Albertson’s spent more than $49,000 cleaning up the spilled material and remediating the damages caused by the spill, the spokesman said.
Domingue and Mouton are accused of dumping more gasoline into the storm drain behind the Albertson’s Store on the night of March 19, 2017, in an effort to compromise the LDEQ investigation against them. They then called the LDEQ to report the second incident using a fictitious name and fictitious information regarding the responsible party, the spokesman said.
After extensive investigation and interviews with both Domingue and Mouton, LDEQ CIS obtained felony arrest
warrants for the two men on September 17, 2018. LDEQ CIS arrested Domingue on September 24, 2018, the spokesman said.
“Our rules are in place to protect the environment, and anybody who willingly and knowingly violates them will
be held accountable,” said LDEQ Secretary Dr. Chuck Carr Brown.
If convicted of knowingly discharging a substance that endangers or could endanger human life or health,
Domingue and Mouton face possible imprisonment for not more than 10 years with or without hard labor, or a
fine of not more than $100,000, or both, according to LDEQ.
The mission of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is to protect the environment and public
health. Any persons with knowledge of any spills, releases, odors, fish kills, open burning, waste tires and any
other types of environmental incidents may contact the department at 225-219-3640 or Toll Free 1-888-763-5424.
