TERRE HAUTE — Derrik Hagerman, president and owner of Wabash Environmental Technologies LLC, was indicted Wednesday on 36 felony violations of the federal Clean Water Act for creating false reports of analytical results of wastewater discharged into the Wabash River.
Hagerman faces a maximum of 72 years in prison and up to $900,000 in fines. Each violation carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine up to $250,000, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Mucha, who are prosecuting the case.
The charges also were filed against the company, which could be fined up to $18 million, as each violation carries a penalty up to $500,000.
Hagerman appeared Wednesday in Indianapolis before U.S. Magistrate V. Sue Shields for arraignment. Hagerman also represented the company. Hagerman and the company entered pleas of not guilty.
He was placed under pretrial supervision and released after the hearing.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Nov. 13 before U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton.
Message seeking comment from Hagerman were left Thursday on his cell phone and home telephone. No one answered the door at his home, south of Terre Haute.
U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison said no other charges are expected against any other person in connection with the case. Morrison said that if Hagerman is convicted, the penalties may be less than the maximum.
“What is not figured is that all federal sentencing is controlled by the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which applies to each individual case based on a number of factors including offense level and criminal history. The court is given a recommended sentencing range,” Morrison said.
Agents of the FBI and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, assisted by state and local officials, executed a search warrant in December 2004 at Wabash Environmental Technologies LLC at 1331 S. First St. The EPA in April 2004 had cited the company with four violations of the federal Clean Air Act, a case that is ongoing.
The criminal charges arose from an investigation jointly undertaken by the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. EPA, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Defense Criminal Investigation Service and FBI.
IDEM issued a cease-and-desist order on WET on Dec. 17, 2004.
WET opened in 2000 offering to conduct environmental quality-control testing for pharmaceutical manufacturing companies. It received a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit on Feb. 13, 2001, using processing tanks to organically treat wastewater trucked into the plant.
The permit expired Jan. 31. The permit limited the types of wastes WET could receive and discharge subject to concentrations of pollutants.
The pollutants regulated include, among other things, ammonia, biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, copper, zinc and phenol.
WET was required to submit monthly monitoring reports showing results of daily samples under the permit. WET also was required to prepare and submit to IDEM monthly federal monitoring reports called discharge monitoring reports, showing the highest monthly maximum concentration taken for each pollutant, according to the federal indictment.
From January to November 2004, Hagerman reviewed bench sheets. The bench sheets are lab results showing analytical results for wastewater discharge made by the company, IDEM spokesman Barry Sneed said.
“All reports are to be signed by the owner/president of the company or a designated person which has to be indicated in writing. In this case, Hagerman signed the reports,” Sneed said.
The bench sheets show that WET was discharging pollutants above effluent limitations for ammonia, biological oxygen demand, total suspended solids, copper, zinc and phenol.
In the 17-page indictment, federal officials allege Hagerman and WET between January to November 2004 created false bench sheets, showing few if any violations, and “purporting to be analytical results of wastewater samples taken at WET for purposes of compliance with WET’s Clean Water Act NPDES permit.”
The federal government also contends Hagerman and WET created and submitted 36 false monthly monitoring reports and discharge monitoring reports showing few if any effluent limit violations and purporting to contain accurate results of wastewater samples for purposes of compliance with WET’s Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, the indictment states.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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President of Wabash Environmental Technologies charged with environmental crimes
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