The legal hot water just got a little hotter for Larry F. Anderson, a former state environmental regulator now accused of extortion. Third District Judge Glenn Iwasaki has dismissed a 1996 lawsuit brought by Anderson against Envirocare of Utah, a low-level radioactive waste dump.
Anderson had claimed the company's owner, Khosrow Semnani, owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars for consulting work done at the same time Anderson was the regulator in charge of issuing waste disposal permits to Envirocare. Anderson has since been indicted in federal court for extortion, mail fraud and tax fraud in connection with the case.According to Iwasaki's ruling, "Anderson's alleged contract gave him an expectation of income measured by the success of the regulated business, which is prohibited (by state law)."
Envirocare President Charles Judd issued a statement Thursday saying, "Today's dismissal of Mr. Anderson's lawsuit shows there was absolutely no basis for his allegations against Envirocare or Mr. Semnani. The court's action vindicates Envirocare's position and is consistent with the federal grand jury's criminal indictment of Mr. Anderson."
Anderson was the director of the Utah Bureau of Radiation Control between 1978 and 1993. Anderson said that in 1987 he developed a business plan for a low-level waste dump and Semnani agreed to pay him $25 million if the plan succeeded.
Semnani applied for a permit to store the waste in 1987 and subsequently opened the low-level waste dump in Tooele County, the only commercial facility of its kind in the nation. The facility stores mostly soils contaminated with low levels of radioactivity.
Court documents indicate Semnani paid Anderson some $600,000 in cash, gold coins and real estate. Semnani later filed a countersuit against Anderson, saying the regulator had extorted the money with the threat of economic reprisal.
In March 1999, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Anderson. Semnani was charged and pleaded guilty to assisting in the filing of a false tax return and was fined $100,000. He also agreed to help prosecutors in their case against Anderson, who is now awaiting trial.
Iwasaki ruled that even if Semnani made an oral contract with Anderson, as Anderson claimed, it would violate public policy and state law and would have been void.
Anderson's attorney, James Haskins, could not be reached for comment.