The punishment meted out in Butler County Court to the owner of a Beaver County demolition company sends a message to others who might someday want to target this county for such dumping. That message is: Don't repeat this defendant's mistake. It will cost you.

Judge William Shaffer ordered the defendant — Ralph Unis, 47, owner of Unis Demolition — to pay $5,000 to the state's Solid Waste Management Fund. He also was sentenced to up to six months of probation, although that probationary period might be reduced if Unis performs 20 hours of community service.

The charges against Unis stemmed from his use of a Donegal Township property as an illegal dumpsite and burn ground more than seven years ago. Unis pleaded no contest to two counts of unlawful activities; court decisions over the years, appeals and petitions kept the case from reaching court until now.

But the case shows that this county, also harmed decades ago by illegal chemical waste dumping that contaminated well-water supplies in the Petrolia area, has reached the end of its tolerance of unlawful dumping.

If convictions and pleas from dumping continue, penalties must be harsher than those given to Unis.

According to Andrew Thiros, who represented the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, which handled prosecution of the charges against Unis, people and property were endangered by Unis' dumping and burning.

Court documents listed neighbors' complaints about large burns of the dumped materials at night. Included in the documents is information about a large nighttime burn on June 2, 1998, that got out of control, resulting in the Chicora Volunteer Fire Department being called to douse the flames.

Allegedly, nine dump truck loads of waste from a building-demolition in Butler were dumped in the spring of 1998 at a homesite on Duffy School Road.

The owner of an Allegheny County company who was an owner of the Donegal Township dumpsite still faces charges in connection with the dumping.

So the message from the Unis case is clear and to the point. With that in mind, people who witness or have knowledge about other instances of large-scale illegal dumping in the county should not hesitate to come forward.

The rural atmosphere of most of Butler County makes this county susceptible to illegal dumping, and people who live here must be watchful that their environment is not damaged by people who should know better.

That Butler County Court has shown it will not be content with a slap on the wrist for violators is an important message for everyone to acknowledge.

It is a message in all county residents' best interests.