Trial begins for pool company owners accused of dumping hazardous materials

The attorney representing owners of a South Barrington pool construction and supply company said Monday that his clients did not illegally dump hazardous waste and shouldn’t be held accountable if mistakes were made by employees.

Barrington Pools Inc. owners Dale Overson and Louise Donahue face charges they illegally dumped muriatic acid, a chemical used to clean pool filters, on the grounds of the business located on Route 59, north of Interstate 90. If convicted they could face two to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

An anonymous tip claiming the owners discharged muriatic acid into the ground led inspectors from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to Barrington Pools on July 9, 2010, said Assistant Attorney General Andrea Kirch in her opening statement before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Fecarotta Monday. Illinois EPA inspectors returned several days later to test and collect samples. On Aug. 4, 2010, the organization executed a search warrant of the property, prosecutors said.

In his opening statements, Overson defense attorney Thomas Breen insisted the owners committed no crime. Breen said Overson, the president of the family business he founded 22 years ago, took measures to guard against the improper discharge of chemicals, including building a 10-foot-by-10-foot limestone pit to neutralize chemicals found in the runoff from the filter-cleaning solution.

Overson gave up cleaning pool filters long ago; he delegates those tasks to maintenance employees and shouldn’t be held accountable for any mistakes they may have made, Breen said. As for Donahue, the company’s administrative supervisor, Breen described him as a “bean counter” who “doesn’t have a clue what goes on in the back of the maintenance department.”

On direct examination from Assistant Attorney General Andrea Kirch, Illinois EPA field inspector Mark Retzlaff testified he met with Donahue on July 9 during his tour of the site. Retzlaff said that Donahue took him to a room where the filter cleaning took place and described the process to him. Retzlaff also testified that after he tested the pH (acidity) level of various samples on the site, he and his partner “felt hazardous waste was being illegally discharged.”

Breen described the EPA’s Aug. 4 search as “an invasion.” He questioned the reliability of the tip claiming it came from a disgruntled former employee. The defense also cast doubt on other prosecution witnesses, saying one left Barrington Pools to start a competing company and another got caught stealing inventory and selling it online.

“What they’re trying to do is use unfounded false accusations of three individuals to justify the dog and pony show put on at Barrington Pools on Aug. 4,” Breen said.

Testimony resumes Tuesday in Rolling Meadows.