A Mentone man accused of falsifying records sent to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court I Wednesday morning.
Brian Dale Reed, 49, of 109 N. Broadway St., Mentone, pleaded guilty to one count of counterfeiting, a Class D felony, and on a count of falsification of records, a Class B misdemeanor. As part of the agreement, he was sentenced to one year in prison for the counterfeiting charge, which was suspended, and one month in jail for falsification of records, which also was suspended.
He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and serve two weekends in jail, and he was placed on probation for one year.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Kosciusko Superior Court in February, Reed falsified test results for E-coli and ammonia-nitrogen testing at the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp.'s wastewater treatment plant more than 40 times in 2006, more than 30 times in 2007 and more than 20 times in 2008.
Reed was the certified wastewater treatment operator of record for the Tippecanoe Valley High School wastewater treatment system in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Reed has been an IDEM certified operator since 1982.During his time at Tippecanoe Valley, Reed's duties included filling out and submitting discharge monitoring reports and monthly reports of operation. Also, for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination permits, the operator is required to test and analyze for E-coli weekly from April 1 to Oct. 31, take samples, test and analyze ammonia nitrogen samples and test minimum and maximum discharge levels for E-coli and ammonia nitrogen must be met.
According to the affidavit, the "permittee is required to monitor and maintain records of all such monitoring information and activities including, among other things, the results of such analysis and retain such records for three years."
The person with the permit is also required to minimize or correct any adverse impact to the environment and report any instance of noncompliance not related to planned changes in the facility.
In April, May and June 2006, there reportedly were several instances of non-compliance with the NPDES permit limits for E-coli and "during April, May and June of 2006, as well as other months in 2006 and 2007, based on the actual analytical results of samples taken by Reed at the TVSC, there were numerous instances of noncompliance of the NPDES permit limits for ammonia and nitrogen."
Also, in 2006, 2007 and 2008, there were several times that the system was noncompliant with the permit limits for E-coli and ammonia-nitrogen and it allegedly was not reported to IDEM as required.
The document also states that from April 2008 to October 2008 samples from the school wastewater treatment plant were tested by Eric Carlin, who operates a laboratory that performs analytical testing for ammonia-nitrogen in Mentone. However, the samples were not tested for E-coli, because at the time, Carlin did not have the equipment to test for it.
Carlin signed the laboratory bench sheet about the ammonia-nitrogen testing and reportedly gave them to Reed.
According to the affidavit, "...in July of 2008, Reed, without the consent or knowledge of Carlin, inserted E-coli values to Carlin's laboratory bench sheet that were already completed and signed by Carlin when in fact Carlin did not conduct any analytical testing for E-coli, and that Reed, by altering the laboratory bench sheet of Carlin in July of 2008, violated the terms and conditions of the NPDES permit for the TVSC. ...
"The investigation revealed that the results for ammonia-nitrogen and E-coli have been falsified on the DMRs and MROs by Reed more than 40 times for 2006, more than 30 times for 2007 and more than 20 times for 2008."
In an impact statement submitted to the court, David Eiler of IDEM, wrote, "Brian Reed has been a state-certified wastewater treatment operator since 1982 as defined in I.C. 13-18-11. Each person who obtains a wastewater treatment license must pass a written test and fulfill yearly educational requirements as prescribed in the Indiana Administrative Code IAC 327. Mr. Reed clearly knows what is required of wastewater treatment operators and what they must do to insure the health and safety of wastewater plants when discharges of waste are put into the waters of the State. By falsifying monthly records of the Tippecanoe Valley School System's wastewater treatment facility for over three years, he has had an impact on the environment of Kosciusko County.
"IDEM is the state agency delegated by the U.S. EPA to enforce the rules and laws pertaining to wastewater treatment facilities and to certify operators of these facilities. The only way to judge the operation of a treatment plant is to examine the monthly reports that are filled out by the operator of that facility. Permits (facility and a certified operator) are a privilege granted to a person or facility in exchange for the commitment that its operations will satisfy all applicable regulatory requirements. By being the wastewater treatment of record, Mr. Reed had a position of trust with the community in which he served. And Mr. Reed violated that trust by falsifying state reported as to the operation of the Tippecanoe Valley School wastewater plant. Even when Mr. Reed was confronted in an interview by IDEM, David Eiler, he continued to lie and deceive in his response to questions about these monthly reports."
