DEFENDANT INDICTED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

Alan Young Charged With Clean Air Act Violation And Scheme To Conceal

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Paul Warner, U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah, announced today that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging a Utah man with Clean Air Act violations and a scheme to conceal. The defendant is Alan Young, 64, of St. George, Utah.

The indictment alleges that Young was employed as a supervisor for a Utah corporation that built roads. Young allegedly directed the excavation and crushing of water pipes containing asbestos at the Black Ridge Road Project in St. George without complying with the work practice standards designed to control emissions of asbestos and to regulate the disposal of asbestos. Asbestos is classified as a hazardous air pollutant which may cause an increase in mortality or illness.

The indictment further alleges that Young directed other employees of the corporation not to tell inspectors that asbestos-containing material had been buried at the construction site, and that Young himself, when questioned by a federal investigator, denied that the material had been buried.

The maximum penalty for violating the Clean Air Act, or for engaging in a scheme to conceal, is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense, for each count charged in the indictment.

“The charges filed today demonstrate the government’s tireless enforcement of laws designed to protect human health and the environment, including the standards under the Clean Air Act intended to protect workers and the public from the well-known dangers of asbestos,” said Assistant Attorney General Thomas L. Sansonetti.

“This indictment shows the seriousness with which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice regard criminal violations of laws designed to protect public health, such as the Clean Air Act,” said Special Agent in Charge Lori A. Hanson.

The case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Richard Lambert and Trial Attorney Andrea Steward, of the Department of Justice’s, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Crimes Section. Assistant Attorney General Chris Morley of the Utah Attorney General’s Office also participated in the development of the case. The case was investigated by special agents of the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division.

Individuals named in indictments are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

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