Ramon Plaza-Gregory, the owner of Mo-Na-Co Biomedical and Environmental Corp., known as Monaco, and Ileana Cortes-Gonzalez, the facility’s co-operator, have been indicted by a federal grand jury in San Juan on six counts under the Clean Air Act, including a conspiracy charge, for operating a commercial incinerator in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico in repeated and knowing violation of its emissions permit. Monaco held a permit to incinerate pathological waste, materials such as animal carcasses and biological matter generated by medical and veterinary facilities, subject to strict limits on what could be burned and how much pollution could be released. Starting in August 2021, the defendants burned unpermitted materials, operated malfunctioning equipment including a non-functioning temperature gauge, and exceeded emissions limits on multiple documented occasions.
When an EPA inspector informed them of the violations, Plaza-Gregory did not correct course. Instead, he began scheduling incinerator operations on weekends and holidays, when inspectors were less likely to be present, and stopped maintaining records of what was being burned. The permit expired in September 2024 and was not renewed. The defendants continued operating the incinerator on weekends until at least April 2026. If convicted on all counts, Plaza-Gregory and Cortes-Gonzalez each face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines per charge. Monaco faces up to $500,000 in fines per charge.
A Pathological Waste Permit Was Used to Burn Materials the Permit Did Not Allow
Monaco’s Clean Air Act permit authorized the incineration of pathological waste, a defined category that includes biological material from medical and veterinary sources. The permit did not authorize the burning of biomedical waste, a broader and more hazardous category that includes sharps, contaminated materials, and other regulated medical byproducts requiring specialized handling and higher incineration temperatures.
According to the DOJ indictment announcement, Plaza-Gregory and Cortes-Gonzalez burned biomedical waste through Monaco’s incinerator in violation of the permit’s material restrictions. EPA Assistant Administrator Jeffrey A. Hall noted that Monaco also failed to maintain a functioning temperature gauge, making it impossible to verify whether the incinerator was reaching temperatures required for complete and safe combustion. Incomplete incineration of biomedical waste can release dioxins, furans, and other toxic compounds into the surrounding air. Because records of what was being burned were not maintained, Hall stated: “There is no telling what harmful pollution was emitted from improper and incomplete incineration.”
After an EPA Inspection Flagged Violations in 2021, Plaza-Gregory Moved Operations to Weekends
The violations were first identified by an EPA inspector who informed the defendants directly of the specific ways their operations exceeded permitted limits. Rather than coming into compliance, Plaza-Gregory responded by restructuring the timing of operations to avoid detection. By moving incinerator activity to weekends and holidays, the defendants could continue burning materials outside their permit while reducing the likelihood of encountering inspectors on site.
The tactic is documented in the indictment and was addressed directly by EPA’s Hall at the time of the charges: “The company president deliberately concealed these violations by failing to record basic information about what was being burned, by not even maintaining a functioning temperature gauge, and by operating on weekends and holidays.” Despite this concealment, emissions excesses were documented again by investigators in July 2024, confirming the violations had continued for years after the initial inspection.
The Permit Expired in September 2024 and the Defendants Kept Running Anyway
Monaco’s emissions permit expired in September 2024 and was not renewed. Operating a commercial incinerator without a valid Clean Air Act permit is itself a federal violation, distinct from the underlying emissions excesses. The defendants did not shut down. Instead, they continued burning pathological waste on weekends for more than a year and a half after permit expiration, extending their exposure under the statute through at least April 2026 when the indictment was filed.
The case was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI’s Aguadilla Resident Agency, which together participate in the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force, a joint initiative launched to prosecute federal environmental violations across the region. U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico stated that ensuring Puerto Rico residents enjoy “a healthy environment free of hazardous waste and other pollutants” is a top priority of the office. FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlos R. Goris for the San Juan Field Office added that environmental crimes “impact the health, safety, and quality of life of our communities.”
Conclusion
The Monaco Biomedical case illustrates a pattern of deliberate evasion that goes beyond simple noncompliance. Plaza-Gregory was told directly by an EPA inspector that the facility was violating its permit. His response was not remediation but concealment: weekend scheduling, missing records, and a broken temperature gauge that made independent verification impossible. The emissions violations continued for nearly five years. When the permit lapsed entirely, operations continued for another year and a half. The charges now cover both the original permit violations and the conspiracy between Plaza-Gregory and Cortes-Gonzalez to sustain them, in a community where the air quality consequences of unchecked incineration fall disproportionately on residents who had no way of knowing what was being burned or at what temperatures.
