W.V. firm accused of tainting waterways

Salt Lake attorney Max Wheeler said his client, McKelvie, was not surprised by the indictment because an investigation has been under way for some time. "We knew from the beginning that we intended to fight the charges," Wheeler said. "The charges, as they relate to Mr. McKelvie, do not have merit."

Greaves' lawyer, Michael Jaenish, was not available for comment Thursday.

The indictment claims wastewater from the plant exceeded the permitted level during at least 12 separate months between January 2000 and May 2002.

Court papers maintain the firm discharged polluted water by "cherry picking" only certain samples with low selenium contents for laboratory testing; diluting wastewater with fresh water from a hose so the chemical's concentrations would be misrepresented; and shutting off wastewater flowing to a sampling point when it was to be collected and tested to hide actual selenium levels.

The refinery work at Johnson Matthey separates selenium and other materials from the gold and silver. The firm must remove a certain amount of selenium before discharging its wastewater into public waters.

Johnson Matthey has a permit from the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility that restricted the amount of selenium in its wastewater to 3.47 parts per million. Federal prosecutors insist the firm exceeded that amount repeatedly.

Johnson Matthey, which has a U.S. base in Wayne, Pa., also has a London home office and operates in 34 countries.

This is the second time this year that federal regulators have aggressively pursued industries operating in Utah on allegations of environmental violations.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson in a separate, unrelated case ordered McWane Inc., which owns and runs Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co. in Provo, to pay $3 million in fines and put the company on three years' probation for what was termed "environmental crimes" involving air pollution.

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