You Pollute, You Pay

Company executives beware. If your company violates federal water pollution laws, you can pay heavy fines or serve prison time, according to a recent ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal.

Ask Thomas E. Iverson Sr., who is serving a one-year sentence at a federal prison in Texas.

Iverson was president and chief executive of CH20 Inc., an Olympia, Wash., chemical company that makes acid cleaners and other products, before a jury convicted him in March on four counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act.

He was sentenced to the prison term and fined $75,000. Prosecutors proved that Iverson and his employees knowingly discharged waste water into a local sewer system without a permit.

Iverson appealed, claiming that, among other things, he didn’t have direct responsibility for the operation that dumped the pollutants.

But three judges of the appellate court said they were “not persuaded.”

The opinion, issued Dec. 11, “reaffirms that as a corporate executive you can’t turn a blind eye to a waste disposal problem in your company,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Helen J. Brunner, who prosecuted the case.

Davan Maharaj can be reached by phone at (213) 237-5991 or by e-mail at davan.maharaj@latimes.com.