Tennessee Man Admits Guilt In Submitting False Permits For Barren River Pipeline Project
– Created and forged documents submitted to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and others
LOUISVILLE, KY –A Nolensville, Tennessee man pled guilty today in United States District Court to creating a false and fictitious permit so that two gas pipelines could be built under Barren River, announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.
Peter Grimes admitted to knowingly and willfully making a false permit authorization letter, and submitted it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection.
In his change of plea, Grimes admitted that an inspector with the Division of Water, Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection ("KDEP") discovered that Gulfstar had constructed a gas pipeline under the Barren River in two locations. When KDEP asked Gulfstar for its permit, in January 2008, Gulfstar passed the request on to Energy Management Services and Peter Grimes. At the time, Grimes was working as a professional consultant, charged with obtaining all necessary permits. According to an interview with Grimes, the gas pipelines had been constructed in August and September 2007.
In January 2008, Grimes manufactured and submitted a fraudulent and fictitious U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit authorization letter to an inspector for the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This was to create the false impression that construction of the pipeline in Barren River had been conducted pursuant to a valid permit. Grimes also submitted the permit authorization letter to an employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville, Kentucky.
Grimes admitted that he manufactured a written authorization on the letterhead of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This entire document was false and fictitious, and it was material to the regulatory activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection agency whose authority is delegated to Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection, which was investigating whether the gas pipeline had been properly permitted. The false document was also material to regulatory activities of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigating whether the permit had been properly issued.
“To assure compliance with environmental laws, governments need complete and accurate documents,” said Maureen O’Mara, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Kentucky. “The defendant compounded his failure to secure the required permits by forging them. Violators who submit false information undermine our efforts to protect the public and the environment. Today's guilty plea should serve as a warning to anyone who knowingly falsifies official documents: you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Sentencing is set for March 13, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. before United States District Judge Charles R. Simpson in Louisville, Kentucky. Grimes faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a three year term of supervised release.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Judd and it was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigations.
