Workers plead guilty to misusing wetlands

BILLINGS — Two state employees admitted Thursday that they broke federal law by placing more fill material into a wetlands area than what was allowed.

Department of Transportation employees Ronald Arthur, 60, of Culbertson, and Lesley Peterson, 58, of Forsyth, were accused of the violations during construction on about 11 miles of Montana Highway 5 west of Plentywood in 2001, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson.

The project crossed wetland areas that are next to and drain into the Big Muddy Creek. The department got a permit in 2000 from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to place fill in 2.52 acres of wetlands for the project.

During construction, Johnson said, contractors encountered a water spring that made about 19,200 cubic yards of existing roadbed too wet for use in the reconstructed roadbed of the project.

Arthur, who was responsible for directing construction at the site, and Peterson, who was Arthur’s supervisor, decided that the material could be placed in the ditch along the wetland. This exceeded the amount of fill allowed in the corps’ permit, Johnson said.

Arthur and Peterson both pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of violating the Clean Water Act, a misdemeanor. The crime carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine per day of violation.

U.S. Magistrate Richard Anderson set sentencing for Oct. 26.