Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
IDAHO EMPLOYER CONVICTED OF EXPOSING EMPLOYEES TO CYANIDE
Release Date: 05/13/99
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1999
IDAHO EMPLOYER CONVICTED OF EXPOSING EMPLOYEES TO CYANIDE
On May 7, Alan Elias, owner and operator of Evergreen Resources, a Soda Springs, Idaho fertilizer manufacturing company, was convicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho in Pocatello for a variety of federal offenses that left a 20 year-old employee with permanent brain damage from exposure to deadly cyanide gas. Elias was also convicted of two counts of illegally disposing of hazardous cyanide waste in violation of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and one count of making a false statement to federal officials by falsifying a safety plan. During two days in August 1996, Elias directed his employees to enter a 25,000 gallon storage tank to dispose of hazardous cyanide waste from a precious metal recovery operation, but he did not implement basic safety precautions that had been previously discussed with him by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Even after some of his employees complained of poor health symptoms from exposure to cyanide, Elias did not provide them with required safety equipment that was available to him at no cost. When sentenced on all charges, Elias faces a maximum of up to 30 years imprisonment and/or up to $1 million in fines. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS, OSHA, the FBI, the Idaho State Police and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
R-50 # # #
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
