Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Caldwell said Tuesday that he will file no charges based on complaints he received in a letter from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The Washington-based group said six state employees broke Virginia and federal environmental laws in issuing six water-pollution permits during the past year.
``To be honest, it looks to me to be more appropriate for a civil arena than a criminal arena,'' Caldwell said.
The environmental group mailed its allegation March 24 to Caldwell and to Robert Crouch, the U.S. attorney for Virginia's Western District.
Caldwell said he will listen if the group gives him more convincing evidence. But he said the group's complaints ``appeared to be in the nature of an agenda.''
Robert Burnley, the DEQ's director of program support and evaluation, said Caldwell's decision ``does confirm what the agency has said all along - that the permits were issued properly.''
The environmental group said DEQ employees broke the law in reviewing and issuing pollution-discharge permits for a paper mill, a proposed shopping center, a subdivision and three sewage-treatment operations.
The group said the state employees knowingly issued false certifications that the pollution discharges conformed with standards designed to protect streams.
by CNB