Firms Fined for Using Lake as a Dump : Environment: A drought revealed that two companies that cleaned houseboats dumped 100 truckloads of debris. They agree to pay $1.3-million penalty, along with $1-million cleanup.

For years, people came to Lake Powell to water ski, laze on house boats and admire the red and tan desert cliffs. Not until a drought lowered the sparkling blue water did they realize what lay at the bottom.

The dry spell exposed an underwater dump of oozing auto batteries, toilets and other garbage--enough to fill 100 trucks--that had been hidden for a decade.

Two companies that rented houseboats on the lake under a concession with Glen Canyon National Recreation Area have agreed to pay $1.3 million in penalties, on top of the $1 million they have spent to clean up the mess.

“These companies treated the lake as if it were their own,” state Atty. Gen. Grant Woods said. “This shows a pattern of abuse and neglect of a natural Arizona jewel that went on for years.”

The creators of the watery junkyard are a subsidiary of Del Webb Corp., the Phoenix-based builder of Arizona’s Sun City retirement communities, and ARA Leisure Services of Philadelphia, which has food concessions at colleges and ballparks around the country. ARA took over the houseboat concession from Webb’s Marina Operations Corp. in 1988.

Most of the man-made lake behind Glen Canyon Dam is in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which winds through 150 miles of starkly beautiful rock canyons on the Colorado River in Arizona and Utah north of the Grand Canyon.

According to Woods, employees cleaning more than 500 houseboats at the lake’s five marinas routinely tossed trash and boat parts overboard in a rush to get the boats ready for new renters.

Debris found in the lake included 1,000 lead acid batteries, propellers, barbecue grills, stoves, refrigerators, bottles and even toilets.

Both companies acknowledged responsibility but blamed former employees who acted without the knowledge of top management.

“If we had known what they were doing we would have instituted immediate cleanup and taken harsh disciplinary action,” Webb Chairman Philip J. Dion said.

Under a settlement reached with Woods’ office, Webb’s Marina Concessions pleaded no contest to a criminal damage charge and agreed to pay a $1-million fine. ARA agreed to pay a $225,000 penalty. The companies will also pay the $100,000 it cost to investigate the case.

Four managers who worked for Marina Operations and ARA at Lake Powell agreed to perform 100 hours of community service.

Woods also said National Park Service employees lied during the three-year investigation. He didn’t file charges but turned the information over to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, a former Arizona governor, who was investigating.