The federal sentencing hearing for Chickasha businessman and property owner Brannan Bordwine was postponed recently to Oct. 29.
Bordwine pleaded guilty to a felony crime arising from the improper disposal of tons of recalled hand sanitizer classified as hazardous waste, and was scheduled to be sentenced July 31 in Oklahoma City’s Western District federal court.
However, he sought to continue the sentencing hearing for 90 days to allow him “sufficient time to complete” his proposed remediation plan for disposal of his remaining supplies of toxic hand sanitizer, “which is awaiting final approval from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.”
U.S. District Judge Jodi Dishman granted Bordwine’s request on July 29.
Bordwine accepted sanitizer under contract for disposal at three sites in Grady County: 1102 Pikes Peak Road in Chickasha, Bordwine Development’s principal headquarters; 1003 Quail Lane in Ninnekah, the site formerly occupied by H&B Machine and Manufacturing; and the former Chickasha Manufacturing building at 5501 S. Fourth Street (U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 19), which Bordwine leased from Blessed Chickasha Collective In July 2020 the manufacturer of Bersih Hand Sanitizer gel issued a recall because of potential methanol contamination. Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide, and alternative fuel source.
“In or around October 2021” several truckloads of Bersih recalled hand sanitizer were delivered to the Pikes Peak Road site owned by Bordwine.
In late November 2021 Bordwine Development, a company owned by Brannan Bordwine, used heavy equipment and machinery to “transport and dump pallets of the recalled hand sanitizer into a burial pit in the northeast corner of the Pikes Peak facility,” the federal government alleged. While burying the product, several of the bottles spilled and leaked into the ground. Bordwine “then filled the burial pit with dirt and other materials.”
In the plea agreement he signed on June 9, 2025, Bordwine admitted disposing of hazardous waste even though Bordwine Development “did not have a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency or the State of Oklahoma to store, treat, transport, or dispose of hazardous waste,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Brown noted.
Because Bordwine pleaded guilty to the single felony charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office “will not further prosecute” Bordwine “for any crimes related to [his] participation in transporting, storing, and disposing of hand sanitizer during the period from 2021 through 2023,” the plea agreement stipulates.
The prosecutor and Bordwine agreed that a fine of “not more than $100,000 is appropriate” in this case.
Seven fires erupted between Aug. 7, 2022, and Nov. 3, 2024, at the locations where Bordwine stored and/or disposed of hand sanitizer in Grady County. In the aftermath of the fires, approximately 25 totes and 80 pallets of hand sanitizer remained on the Pikes Peak property, the DEQ reported on July 18, 2025.
Bordwine agreed to complete at least 50% of the cleanup and disposal within six months of his guilty plea. At a minimum, “this shall consist of removing all buried bottled hand sanitizer and preparing it for transportation to a facility permitted to dispose of hazardous waste…” A consent order issued by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality on March 27, 2026, supersedes an administrative compliance order issued against Bordwine by former DEQ Executive Director Scott Thompson – along with a record $6.65 million administrative fine Thompson imposed against Bordwine on Aug. 22, 2022.
Instead, Bordwine agreed to pay an administrative penalty of $300,000, and made an initial payment of $25,000, DEQ Communications Officer Skylar McElhaney informed Southwest Ledger on July 21. Additional payments of at least $5,000 per month are due starting on “the first date of the 13th month following the execution of this order” – i.e., April 1, 2027.