BY SUSAN EVANS
NORTHERN CAMBRIA — The operator of the Northern Cambria water treatment plant falsified water tests required by the state to check for water safety, investigators from the state attorney general’s office say.
Charges of making false statements to the state Department of Environmental Protection were filed Thursday against Thomas J. Yeckley of Carrolltown, the water plant’s operator since 2004.
State investigators accuse Yeckley of taking water test samples from a laboratory sink and presenting them as being drawn system-wide so that the borough’s water would appear to be safe.
He is the second Northern Cambria water plant worker to be criminally charged in the past year. David Suchar was fired as water plant manager and is still facing charges of forgery and stealing from the borough. His next hearing is scheduled for March 29.
Immediately after the state filed charges against Yeckley at district court in Hastings, the Northern Cambria Water Authority placed him on duties outside the plant.
Members will meet Monday morning to discuss the situation.
Thursday’s charges are the latest development in Northern Cambria’s water problems, which last year resulted in a boil-water notice because of a possible water contamination problem.
Yeckley faces charges of “making written false statements to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection” regarding the location of water sample sites between January 2008 and July 2009.
Filed by Special Agent William F. Brown of the attorney general’s office, the criminal charges resulted from an investigation requested by DEP.
The criminal complaint filed before District Judge Michael Zungali says that water samples are permitted to be collected from a sink, but DEP also requires monthly samples from “distant locations in the water plant’s distribution system to ensure proper chlorine levels.”
The samples are tested at an independent lab, which submits the results to DEP, according to the criminal complaint.
Repeated calls to Yeckley for comment went unanswered Thursday.
Yeckley was trained in the proper procedures for taking water samples, the complaint says.
In November, Yeckley provided a list of customer addresses where he claimed to have collected water samples.
DEP questioned the list’s authenticity, and Yeckley admitted that all of the water samples in question were obtained from the Northern Cambria water plant’s lab sink rather than the addresses he provided, the criminal complaint says.
“Yeckley admitted to (investigators) that from 2004 until May or June 2009, he collected water samples from the laboratory sink and labeled the samples as being collected from various locations in the distribution system,” the complaint says.
“Yeckley stated that he provided false sample locations on the water samples he submitted to Cardan (the testing lab) so it would appear as though the Northern Cambria Municipal Authority was in compliance with DEP regulations,” it says.
Information on possible penalties or future hearing dates was not available Thursday.
It was not immediately clear whether the charges filed against Yeckley are misdemeanors or felonies.
