WICOMICO COUNTY - Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced that criminal charges have been filed against Terry Adrian Handy, Jr., of Eden, Maryland for violations of the state's environmental laws regarding the disposal of pollutants.
Handy was originally charged in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County with two counts of illegal discharge of a pollutant and two counts of unlawful disposal of sewage back on August 14. Officials say that was in connection to illegal dumping that occurred on a wooded property in Wicomico County.
An investigation revealed that Handy was an employee of Price & Son Septic Services, Inc., a septic-hauling business primarily located on Stanford Road in Eden. On October 23 of 2025, the Wicomico County Health Department responded to a neighboring property. Officials say the department observed piping leading from the business' sewage pump truck parking pad and into the forested area behind the property, extending beyond the property line. They say the forested area smelled like sewage, and the ground had soft areas that would sink when walked on.
The Attorney General's Environmental and Natural Resources Crimes Unit responded to the site on Stanford Road four days later on October 27, 2025. They found a large area of black, sludge-like material near the back of the property. Officials say they also noticed an overwhelming odor consistent with raw sewage.
Investigators say they later witnessed Handy disconnecting a hose from the rear of one of the Price & Son septic trucks, and then immediately saw a new large area of brown liquid actively flowing over the area of black sludge, which had been dry a few minutes earlier. Because of this, investigators were able to determine that Handy had just dumped the contents of the septic truck directly onto the property adjacent to the business.
"Illegal dumping of sewage damages our environment and hurts communities," said Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain. "There are many facilities designed to properly dispose of this material for treatment, and this property is certainly not one of them. Anyone who chooses to put public health at risk or pollute our environment will be held accountable."
