Oregon Public Broadcasting

A business owner will be going to jail over hazardous waste violations.  It's thought to be the first such prison sentence in Oregon.

Donald Spencer will spend six months in jail as a result of violations at his company’s waste processing plant in Southeast Portland. But what may have made the Spencer case different is that one of his employees died, shortly after getting sick at work.

Dwight Holton is the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Spencer in part over the suspicious death of Tim Smith.

Dwight Holton: “One of the waste streams that Spencer Environmental mishandled was a waste stream including hydrofluoric acid. And back in 2003, Tim Smith, who was a 21-year-old seasonal employee at the plant, was asked to clean out a tank. The next day, he had shortness of breath, later in the week, he was in the hospital, and a few weeks after that, he had died of chemically induced pneumonia.” 

Holton says because the company kept poor records, and because the tank was filled with sludge, he was never able to tie Smith’s death to Spencer Environmental.

The senior manager who ordered the tank filled has been indicted on an obstruction of justice charge.