Part 2. In September 2000, a federal grand jury returned a 97-count indictment against Koch Industries, a subsidiary company and four employees for environmental crimes at Koch Petroleum Group’s West Plant oil refinery near Corpus Christi, TX.
nytimes.com/2000/09/29/bus…
nytimes.com/2000/09/29/bus…
They were charged with violating federal air pollution and hazardous waste laws (with the chemical benzene), conspiracy and lying to state environmental officials.
They faced a maximum statutory penalty of $48.5 million or it could be fined twice what it gained from criminal offenses. 
The indictment claimed they had at least 91 metric tons of uncontrolled benzene (on EPA’s list of hazardous air pollutants since 1977) in its liquid waste streams, far more than 6—the limit for their refinery.
The four employees: David Lamp, a plant manager, John Wadsworth, a Vice President & plant manager and James Weathers, an environmental engineer who managed the environmental department—all employees at West Plant and Vincent Mietlicki, an attorney for Koch Industries, faced...
up to 35 years in prison sentences and fines up to $1.75 million if convicted.
What finally happened? In April of 2001, a “deal “ was struck and filed in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, TX.
washingtonpost.com/archive/politi…
What finally happened? In April of 2001, a “deal “ was struck and filed in U.S. District Court in Corpus Christi, TX.
washingtonpost.com/archive/politi…
Koch Industries only pleaded guilty to one count of concealment of information and paid a total of $20 million in fines— $10 million in criminal fines and $10 million for community service programs.
Koch lawyers claimed the violations were the fault of a former employee who first notified the federal authorities of the problem. Koch Industries also claimed that the indictments were politically motivated by the Clinton administration to aid Al Gore’s campaign.
But Koch Industries did admit they disconnected a system to control benzene emissions without notifying the proper environmental authorities, then building a bypass system and special smokestack to dispose of the benzene vapors.
John Wadsworth’s attorney, Michael Ramsay said: "Politics gets mixed up in a lot of things," Ramsey said. Plant manager David Lamp: "I think frankly they had another agenda and it wasn't to find the truth. It smells political all the way.”
The Justice Department "just missed this case completely, they didn't understand it...I fix the problem and I'm rewarded with an indictment." During the 2000 political campaign, the Kochs indirectly or directly donated nearly $800,000 to GOP candidates and organizations.
(clip from earlier @washingtonpost article posted).
Here’s a picture of Flint Hills Resources plant from a story on Hurricane Harvey:
timesrepublican.com/news/money-mar…
timesrepublican.com/news/money-mar…
Next Part 3.
