Three people were arrested in Garfield County after an investigation into the alleged illegal dumping of human waste.
On July 15 the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office started investigation into a report that the A-Action sewage company “had been possibly dumping human waste off a dirt road, by the Asay river, [a headwater leading into the Sevier River,] approximately 3 to 4 miles south of the town of Hatch,” according to a police booking affidavit.
The person reporting had been able to catch a picture of a sewage truck on a trail camera.
On Sunday, deputies discovered 42-year-old Sindi Brown Vetere, the owner of A-Action, her husband Weston Frank Vetere, 33, and James Phillip Torgerson, 61, an employee in the area where the dumping had been reported. They had several vehicles and an excavator with them.
“Weston was operating the excavator and ‘cleaning up’ the area of where the dump sites were,” the affidavit stated.
Torgerson claimed he had been the one dumping the waste, and according to the affidavit, Sindi told the deputies when she found out about the waste, they decided to go and clean it up.
All three were arrested and booked for investigation of obstruction of justice. Torgerson was additionally booked for unlawful discharge of pollutants.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a press release that it takes the protection of natural resources in the county very seriously and is grateful for those who assisted with the investigation.
“The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank Kane County for assisting with this investigation and the citizens who initially reported the incident,” the office wrote. “If anyone has any further knowledge of the dumping of hazardous waste in undesignated areas, please call our office at (435) 676-2678.”
– The Byway
Feature image caption: The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office made three arrests for alleged dumping of human waste outside Hatch.