In the spring of 2023, dozens of 55-gallon barrels oozing unidentified red and white substances turned up in neighborhoods around Richmond and Henrico County. 

The sight was so unnerving that in one case it led to a homicide team being called out. That fear was unfounded, but ultimately more than 80 barrels were found across 15 sites. Eleven were dumped in Cornelius Creek in Henrico, 18 near the railroad tracks in Fulton Hill and a staggering 43 in a residential part of Highland Park. 

“I’ve never seen nor am I aware of another case of this magnitude,” said Justin Finan, an assistant deputy fire marshal for Henrico who ended up leading the investigation into what happened. “This was just on a whole different level.” 

Three years later, two men, Roscoe Morton and Dwayne Veney, have pled guilty to conspiring to dispose of hazardous waste and have been ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution, most of which will go to the state of Virginia to cover the costs of cleaning up the spills. Morton, whom investigators say was the ringleader of the operation, is facing two years in jail.  

The case against a third man, Wayne Couvrez Jr., has not yet been concluded after Couvrez failed to show up for a required court hearing. 

According to Irina Calos of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the materials in the barrels and drums that were dumped turned out to be “ingredients used to manufacture cosmetics and personal care products, including petrolatum-based materials and dyes,” as well as hazardous materials. 

Finan said the multiyear investigation determined the barrels came from a hair care company in North Carolina that was reconfiguring its warehouse and needed to dispose of them as part of the construction. 

Morton, he determined, was subcontracted to get rid of the barrels, which he planned to take to the now-beleaguered Shoosmith landfill in Chesterfield County. 

According to Finan, Morton hired a number of people to rent U-Hauls in Henrico that were driven to North Carolina to collect the barrels. The drivers then returned to the Richmond area, but when they attempted to drop the waste off at Shoosmith and other dumps around the region, all of the facilities refused to take it because of the presence of hazardous materials. 

As a result, “they just went all over metro Richmond and Henrico and started dumping these chemicals,” said Finan. 

As many of the barrels were pushed out of the trucks, they broke, spilling their contents around the sites. 

“Some of them were in very open areas in neighborhoods, very accessible, and some were in very rural areas of Henrico,” said Finan. 

The disposal locations indicated to investigators that the people responsible were familiar with the region and likely local. But tracking them all down wasn’t easy, said Finan. While the barrels could be traced back to the North Carolina company and security footage was obtained from the facility, “it was a very piecemeal investigation” because of the number of people involved in Morton’s operation. 

“Mr. Morton was truly the only person that knew everybody,” said Finan. “The people that went down to North Carolina did not know each other.” 

Nor, he said, were the people who picked up the barrels also the people responsible for disposing of them. 

Investigators would ultimately obtain more than 50 search warrants to identify the three individuals — Morton, Veney and Couvrez — who they said had displayed criminal intent in dumping the barrels of waste. 

After pleading guilty to conspiring with others to transport, treat or dispose of hazardous waste without a permit, Morton was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, with three years of that time suspended. He was also ordered to pay $112,000 in restitution, most of which would go to Virginia DEQ. 

Veney also pled guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to five years’ incarceration, all of which was suspended. He was ordered to pay just over $10,000 in restitution to DEQ. 

Couvrez’s case remains open. 

Earlier this year, DEQ gave an official commendation to Finan and James Mullin, another investigator in the Henrico Fire Marshal's Office, "in recognition of their exceptional efforts" in bringing the case to a close.

"The successful prosecution underscores the importance of strong collaboration among local and state partners in enforcing environmental laws and protecting Virginia’s communities," the agency said in an announcement.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org