Illegally Burned Coated Copper Wire at Campground in Clark Co.

BOISE – William Allen Hurlbut, Jr., 48, of Salmon, Idaho, pleaded guilty in United States District Court today to one count of malicious destruction of government property, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

According to the plea agreement, on April 18, 2010, Hurlbut transported approximately 200 pounds of copper wire coated with a protective material to the Birch Creek Campground in Clark County, Idaho. The Birch Creek Campground is located on property owned by the federal government and administrated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Hurlbut admitted that he burned the wire in a fire pit to remove the wire coating, causing the soil in the fire pit to be contaminated with elevated levels of lead. The BLM incurred costs in excess of $3,500 to remediate the site.

Hurlbut faces up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for January 23, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.