In the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, Plant Manager Paul Greaves, employed by the Wayne, Penn.-based corporation from 1983 to 2003, and General Manager John McKelvie admitted to fudging the process whereby test samples were taken.
Selenium, regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, has been found to cause birth defects in waterfowl. Johnson Matthey's Utah permit limited its levels to 3.47 parts per million.
The company, charged in 2006 with a 29-count indictment for exceeding selenium levels for a 12-month period between 2000 and 2002, also entered a guilty plea Wednesday to one felony charge.
Benson sentenced Greaves and McKelvie to one year of unsupervised probation and 20 hours of community service. Greaves was ordered to pay a $500 fine, while McKelvie was fined $1,000.
Benson said he based the fines on former pay levels of the two men rather than their culpability. McKelvie was paid more than Greaves, and Greaves was terminated in 2003.
McKelvie was placed on paid leave in 2005, then fired two months ago when the plea agreement was reached.
"You both appear to be law-abiding citizens and you've lost your jobs over this," Benson said in explanation of the light sentences. "I don't know all the circumstances but it seems like you've been dealt a pretty harsh blow."
The charge - concealment by trick, scheme or device - could have carried up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Sentencing for Johnson Matthey Inc. will occur Dec. 2. According to the plea, the company has agreed to pay a criminal fine of $2.25 million.
The agreement will also require the company to pay $750,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for wildlife habitat acquisition, selenium research and restoration projects in the Great Salt Lake and its tributaries.
In a press release Wednesday, Lori Hanson, a special agent over EPA criminal investigations, pledged continued vigorous prosecution of entities that submit bogus data.
"Our criminal investigations will go as high up the corporate hierarchy as the evidence permits," Hanson said.
