JURY CONVICTS EASTERN IDAHO MAN FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE VIOLATIONS

 

A federal jury in Pocatello yesterday returned guilty verdicts against a former Salmon resident for violating the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Act and illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste, violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Krister "Kris" Sven Evertson, 53, of Wasilla, Alaska, also known as Krister Ericksson, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 28 at the federal courthouse in Pocatello. He faces maximum penalties of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the three counts.

Evertson is the former owner and president of SBH Corporation, a Nevada corporation that is now defunct. He transported 10 metric tons of sodium metal from its port of entry at the Seattle-Tacoma Port Complex to Salmon, Idaho, where he used some of the sodium in an effort to manufacture sodium borohydride. In August of 2002, Everston arranged for the transportation of the sodium metal not used in the manufacturing process and several above-ground storage tanks (ASTs) which contained sludges and other liquids from SBH's Salmon manufacturing facility to a storage site at the Steel and Ranch Supply facililty (SRS) in Salmon. Sodium metal and the materials in the tanks were highly reactive with water, and the jury found that Evertson failed to take protective measures to reduce the risk that the transported material would react and damage persons or property.

After transporting the materials to SRS, Evertson abandoned them, and SRS's owners could not locate him when they wanted the materials removed from their property. On May 27, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to the SRS facility and removed the sodium metal, one AST that contained sludge, and another tank with corrosive liquid. Commercial laboratories refused to accept the sludge for testing since it was highly reactive with water. The EPA tested the sludge at the National Enforcement Investigations Center laboratory, where it was determined to be highly reactive with water and classified as a hazardous waste. The EPA spent more than $430,000 on cleanup and response costs related to Evertson's abandonment of the hazardous materials.

"Mr. Evertson's conviction is an indication of the degree to which we value our clean environment here in Idaho," said U.S. Attorney Tom Moss. "Actions like his simply will not be tolerated."

The case was investigated by the EPA - Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Transportation - Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI. It was prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho.