The owner of an Orem chemical company that burned for five days in July is being investigated for possible methamphetamine production and arson, according to testimony in federal court Thursday.
The investigations came to light during a hearing before U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene.Company owner Wes Parish asked Greene to order the return of Parish's business records. Without those records, Parish Chemical will go bankrupt, Parish's attorney told the judge. Moreover, other federal agencies are seeking records from Parish, who can't provide them because he doesn't have them.
Company records were seized in a search July 30 of Parish Chemical, 145 N. Geneva Road, by federal agents.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schwendiman told Greene the records were seized as part of ongoing investigations by the IRS; the Drug Enforcment Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. attorney's office.
The records are critical to investigations of possible tax fraud, arson, drug activity and violations of environmental protection laws, Schwendiman said. For example, federal agents plan to examine the records for chemicals that may have been used to accelerate the fire July 24 at the plant, he told the judge.
Evidence from the narcotics investigation is before a grand jury, Schwendiman told Greene.
During their search July 30, investigators seized computers and virtually all paper records in the building, said Walter Bugden, attorney for Parish. The federal agents took all client and billing information. "It's absolutely impossible for Parish Chemical to conduct business. Parish Chemical is staring bankruptcy in the face."
Greene ordered Parish to give the government a list of records he needs returned. The judge then gave the U.S. attorney's office until Tuesday to find out when the records will be returned.
One investigation - the EPA's - mandates the return of the documents, Bugden said. In the wake of the fire July 24, the EPA began investigating Parish Chemical's management of chemicals.
The EPA has given Parish until September to provide a list of all chemicals kept in his building and where they were stored, Bugden told Greene. If Parish Chemical hasn't complied by the deadline, EPA threatened to fine the owners $10,000 a day, he said.
But Parish Chemical can't comply because chemical records were seized in the search, Bugden said.
Greene suggested Parish Chemical tell the EPA it can't provide the records because EPA and others already have them.
The government hasn't gone through the records yet. EPA officials believe the documents may be contaminated with chemicals, Schwendiman said. The agency won't allow the records to be disturbed until they are not hazardous.
"That could be a month or six months," Greene said.
Schwendiman agreed. He offered to update Greene regularly on the government's progress with the documents.
But Greene was not satisfied. He scheduled a hearing for Sept. 1 on the matter, giving Schwendiman until then to find out when the documents can be returned.
Parish also asked Greene to unseal an affidavit that explains why federal investigators want to search the building.
Federal agents presented the affidavit to U.S. Magistrate Ronald Boyce on July 30 when they requested a search warrant. Boyce read the affidavit, then ordered it sealed.
Bugden believes the government unlawfully seized documents from Parish Chemical, but he can't prove that to the court without seeing the affidavit, he said.
The document must remain sealed because it contains the names of informants and undercover agents, Schwendiman countered.
Greene did not rule on the matter.