Downers Grove, IL, August 7, 2006--ServiceMaster Co., disclosed Friday that its InStar Services Group subsidiary received a federal grand jury subpoena tied to a probe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida.
The investigation centers on potential violations by InStar of the Clean Air Act, ServiceMaster said in its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The allegations relate to InStar's actions before ServiceMaster acquired the unit in February, according to the filing.
InStar provides commercial disaster response and reconstruction services. Once it learned of the investigation, InStar discontinued activities that gave rise to the investigation and adopted measures to prevent those activities from recurring, ServiceMaster said.
ServiceMaster said it couldn't predict what actions the U.S. Attorney's Office or the EPA might take or what penalties those authorities might seek.
However, any prosecution resulting from the probe could hurt InStar's ongoing business in Florida and elsewhere, ServiceMaster said.
InStar is cooperating in the investigation, ServiceMaster said.
