KING COUNTY, Wash. — The former plant manager of the Seattle Barrel and Cooperage Company was sentenced to 30 days in prison and four months of home detention on Friday for concealing illegal dumping into the sewer system.
58-year-old John Sanft pleaded guilty in January 2022.
Sanft served as plant manager while the company was illegally dumping caustic waste into the King County sewer system.
Over the course of ten years, the company used a hidden drain to dump the waste into Puget Sound while lying to regulators.
“You were aware of the hidden drain at Seattle Barrel. You were willfully making false statements to regulators…. You chose to lie and lie and continue to lie,” U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said.
Last month, the company’s owner, Louie Sanft, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in addition to a $250,000 fine.
The company itself has been placed on five years probation.
Back in 2013, King County discreetly monitored Seattle Barrel and discovered the company was illegally dumping.
Officials then fined the company, but the pollution did not stop.
Beginning in 2016, Sanft told King County in written monthly certifications that the company had become a “zero discharge” facility.
However, in March 2019, monitors indicated Seattle Barrel was dumping more chemicals into the sewers.
A search warrant then discovered a pump near the tank of caustic solution which was being used to pump solution to a nearby hidden sewer drain that had never been officially disclosed.
Seattle Public Utilities says the sewer lines had been prematurely damaged from the illegal dumping and will need early repair.
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