Federal prosecutors and the attorney for a Logan City employee are reportedly close to reaching a deal over a charge that the employee dumped polluted water into a ditch that drains into a Cache County reservoir.
"We've worked through this," said Ken Brown, representing former Logan City landfill manager Randall Rex Cook, "the prosecutor, myself and Mr. Cook."
Now a truck driver for the city, Cook was charged last month with a misdemeanor violation of discharging pollutants into the water without a permit.
The case stems from a May, 2005, incident, in which Cook pumped thousands of gallons of leachate-contaminated spring runoff into a roadside ditch east of the landfill.
The ditch drains into Cutler Reservoir, which has had trouble in the past with fertilizer and other pollutants. Brown said there was no evidence the reservoir was contaminated because of Cook's actions.
Still, the Clean Water Act is violated when pollutants like leachate, which contains lots of ammonia, go into the water.
Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Utah, said a court date for Cook probably will be scheduled in the next week or two.
Logan City Attorney Kymber Housley had little to say about the case. He noted the city has not been charged in connection with the 2005 incident and said Cook "wasn't doing it at the city's direction."
