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May 1, 2009

Area water treatment exec pleads guilty

Press staff reports

From Press staff reports

MUSKOGEE – The former superintendent of the Fort Gibson water treatment plant pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges of falsifying drinking water safety reports.

Christopher Neil Gauntt was charged with falsifying a monthly operating report that certified the safety of drinking water from the facility. He admitted he submitted a monthly operating report June 12, 2008, containing false information for drinking water provided to Fort Gibson residents, along with residents of Muskogee Rural Water Districts 4 and 7, Cherokee Water drinking water systems and the water systems for Corral Creek Subdivision and Ozark Water Inc.

Gauntt, 36, could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

The federal Safe Water Drinking Act requires water to meet standards so it’s safe for human consumption. Two standards related to turbidity and chlorine. If those tests are not within required levels, the water could retain microorganisms that carry waterborne diseases.

The SWDA is administered and enforced by the EPA and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

Gauntt said he recorded levels in the monthly operating report submitted to the Oklahoma DEQ that included turbidity and chlorine levels in compliance with the standards, although he knew they were not acceptable. There is nothing to indicate any Fort Gibson residents suffered ill effects from the drinking water during the time in question.

“All citizens should be confident they’re receiving drinking water that is safe for consumption,” said John C. Cruden, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Those who knowingly compromise the regulatory protections of the Safe Drinking Water Act will be prosecuted. The prosecution in this case demonstrates the government vigorously acts to ensure all of our citizens have good drinking water and the Safe Drinking Water Act’s requirements are being complied with.”

The case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section and was investigated by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the state Attorney General’s Office.

State court records show Gauntt is on a deferred five-year judgment in Muskogee County for embezzlement by employee and false declaration of ownership.

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