Metals firm is fined $3M for false reports

A precious-metals company operating in Salt Lake City has been fined $3 million for filing false reports to environmental regulators about water discharged from its plant.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson issued the fine earlier this month against Johnson Matthey Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company.

Company officials admitted in September to violating the Clean Water Act at its Salt Lake facility that refines gold and silver, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

As part of the operation, pollutants such as selenium accumulated in the wastewater. The wastewater was treated before it was sent to the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility, which in turn treated it again and discharged it into the Jordan River and the Great Salt Lake, according to prosecutors.

An internal audit in 1999 found the facility exceeded the allowable amount of selenium in its discharge. Prosecutors said company employees in 2000 screened the samples before they were sent to an outside laboratory, ensuring that only those with the lowest selenium levels would be viewed by environmental regulators.