2 businesses charged with dumping concrete mix near Jordan River

2 businesses charged with dumping concrete mix near Jordan River

(Chris Samuels/Deseret News, File Photo)


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BLUFFDALE — Felony charges were filed Thursday against two businesses and their owners accused of dumping concrete mix and other materials along the bank of the Jordan River.

William Brent Baker and William Nielsen Ashton are each charged in 3rd District Court with two third-degree felony counts of violating the federal Water Quality Act.

Owell Precast, the fence and sound wall manufacturer that operates at 16500 S. 500 West, and L&B Resources, the company that owns the land there, were also charged Thursday with the same offenses. Baker and Ashton are the owners of the respective companies.

An inspector from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers told county officials that in January he saw "an excavator and a skid steer repeatedly dumping cured cement, concrete mix and a 55 gallon drum down the edge of a file pile … onto an area directly adjacent to the Jordan River," according to charging documents.

Officials estimate about 0.81 acres along the riverbank have been filled in between October 2011 and early this year. Solid concrete chunks, industrial drums, broken pallets and rubber tubing were also dumped in the area, court documents allege.

A Salt Lake County Health Department official visited the property in mid-January and reportedly saw three mixer trucks washing out a concrete mix near the riverbank. An Owell Precast manager was told such an operation was illegal and should be stopped, according to court documents.

However, another visit by the Corps of Engineers later in January revealed "additional fill" since the time of the inspection just more than a week before, charges state.

"Even though the defendant company had been notified they were allegedly violating the law … the defendant companies continued to violate the Water Quality Act," Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement Thursday.


Even though the defendant company had been notified they were allegedly violating the law … the defendant companies continued to violate the Water Quality Act.

–Sim Gill, Salt Lake County District Attorney


During the second inspection in January, Baker and Ashton spoke with investigators.

"Baker claimed that because the company who operates the north side of the property shut off their access to a concrete washout area … Owell Precast started washing out the concrete (near the riverbank) in December 2014," charges read.

Ashton also reportedly said that Owell Precast was planning to use the space adjacent to the riverbank as an area for leftover materials.

Soil samples taken from the riverbank revealed abnormal pH levels, court documents say.

If found guilty, Ashton, Baker and both charged companies may face up to a $50,000 fine for every day they were found to be in violation of the Water Quality Act.

Gill praised several agencies that assisted in the investigation, saying Thursday's charges "address the issues of environmental degradation and abuse in our community."

Court summons were issued Thursday for Baker and Ashton, but no arrest warrants were filed.

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Ben Lockhart

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