By Chris Nagus

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- An Ohio CEO has pled guilty to dumping millions of pounds of hazardous waste in our area, all of which is sitting in a warehouse not far from the Missouri River in Franklin County.

Raymond Williams made a guilty plea in a federal court in downtown St. Louis to conspiracy to transport hazardous waste from the state of Mississippi to a nondescript industrial warehouse off Zero Road near the tiny town of Berger.

When asked why, Williams simply said, “That’s a good question. Someday we can talk about that maybe. Not today.”

Williams is the CEO of U.S.Technology Corporation.

His company leased blasting equipment to customers like the military, to materials removed paint from things like tanks and airplanes.

Those paints contained heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, and lead, and needed to be disposed of somewhere.

According to the government, Williams contacted a Chicago couple, who are also charged in connection to the case, and worked a deal to transport nine million pounds of the hazardous material to the building in Missouri, which violated state and federal laws.

“It's in the building where it was originally put and not an ounce of it has escaped,” Williams said when asked if he was concerned about the environmental impact. “It's all in containers or was in containers inside the building. It's a big building.”

According to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the EPA is now the lead enforcement agency, and Williams’ company must conduct weekly inspections of the building to make sure doors and windows are locked and no material is disturbed.

In court, the judge ordered Williams to pay $1.5 million in restitution.

“I didn't come up with the number it was just something I accepted,” he said.

According to the Missouri D.N.R, U.S. Technology Corporation has entered into a consent agreement with EPA to treat the materials inside the warehouse and to dispose to them at an appropriate facility.

Williams will return in September for sentencing.