08-26-2003SOUTH BEND – David Van Dyke, 53, Warsaw, filed a guilty plea with the U.S. District Court, South Bend, Monday on three of the 37-count federal indictment against him.
Van Dyke is the former Warsaw wastewater treatment plant operator who was on trial in U.S. District Court in South Bend last week, facing multiple Clean Water Act violations. He is accused of filing false reports to hide the illegal discharge of tons of solids and sludge and large quantities of diesel fuel in Walnut Creek.
The 37-count indictment was filed March 12, and the 37-count superceding indictment was filed July 9.
In his petition to the court to enter a guilty plea, Van Dyke agreed to plead guilty to counts 1, 34 and 37, which charge him with knowingly making a false statement in a document required under the Clean Water Act; knowingly discharging a pollutant into the water in violation of a Clean Water Act permit; and knowingly failing to notify the Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2001 and 2002 that he directed plant employees to apply diesel fuel within the plant in an attempt to reduce foam in the waters discharged through the plant.
During May through July 2002, analyses by the Warsaw plant laboratory employees showed the facility was discharging the pollutants ammonia, TSS and CBOD in amounts exceeding Clean Water Act permit limits. Those records were given to Van Dyke. In the filing, Van Dyke admitted to knowingly altering the bench sheets so they would falsely under-report the plant’s discharges.
With the altered information, Van Dyke admitted to filling out MROs and submitting them to IDEM. As a result, the MROs falsely under-reported the Warsaw plant’s discharges, including specifically for May 2002.
The penalties for count 1 include a maximum of two years imprisonment, $250,000 fine or a combination of both jail and fine as well as a period of supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment and a mandatory special assessment of $100. For each of the counts 34 and 37, the maximum penalty includes three years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or $50,000-per-day violation or a combination of both, as well as a period of supervised release to follow any term of imprisonment and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
Van Dyke, with the guilty plea, also waived his right to appeal his sentence and agreed not to contest his sentence or the manner in which it was determined.
All other remaining counts will be dismissed and no other additional charges will be filed against Van Dyke arising out of the matters covered by the indictment.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.