Ex-Seattle Barrel cleaning manager gets prison time for hiding unlawful sewer dumping
KING COUNTY, Wash. (UI) — The ex-plant supervisor of the Seattle Barrel and Cooperage Company has been handed a 30-day prison term and four months of home confinement for concealing illegal sewer discharges, Seattle’s KIRO 7 News reported.
John Sanft, aged 58, entered a guilty plea in January 2022.
Sanft had served as the plant manager during a period when the company was secretly disposing of hazardous waste into the King County sewer system. Over a span of ten years, the company utilized a concealed outlet to funnel the waste into Puget Sound while misleading regulatory authorities.
According to KIRO 7, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones admonished Sanft, stated, " You were aware of the hidden drain at Seattle Barrel. You were willfully making false statements to regulators…. You chose to lie and lie and continue to lie."
In September, the company's owner, Louie Sanft, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $250,000. The company itself has been placed on probation for a five-year term.
In 2013, King County discreetly monitored Seattle Barrel and uncovered its illicit dumping practices. Although officials levied fines against the company, the pollution continued. Commencing in 2016, Sanft, through written monthly certifications, falsely asserted to King County that the company had become a "zero discharge" facility.
However, in March 2019, monitoring equipment revealed that Seattle Barrel was still discharging chemicals into the sewer system. A subsequent search warrant uncovered a pump near a caustic solution tank, which was being utilized to transfer the solution to a concealed sewer drain that had never been officially disclosed.
Seattle Public Utilities has stated that the illegal dumping caused premature damage to the sewer lines, necessitating early repairs.
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