TACOMA — A waste treatment operator at Mount Rainier National Park has been charged with dumping 200,000 gallons of sewage into the Nisqually River.
Federal prosecutors charged 52-year-old James Barber with violating the Clean Water Act. He’s expected to enter a plea at a Friday court appearance in Tacoma.
The News Tribune reported Barber was in charge of the plant that handles waste from the Paradise Visitor Center and Paradise Inn.
He’s accused of diverting untreated waste into a drainage ditch in the spring and summer of 2011 after a filter became clogged.
Testing found about 200,000 gallons of minimally treated sewage reached the river.
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