Official who lied about Garden Plain’s drinking water gets probation, fine
A man who used to serve as Garden Plain’s water system operator will spend a year on probation and pay a $1,000 fine for lying about where he got samples used to test the town’s drinking water quality two winters ago.
Arthur Wolfe, 64, of Norwich, pleaded guilty in September to falsifying bacteriological reports required by the Environmental Protection Agency. An indictment alleged Wolfe collected tap water from the city’s water treatment plant in 2017 and 2018 but claimed on reports that it came from four different homes in Garden Plain.
Usually water samples are taken from several locations to make sure bacteria is not seeping into a city’s water supply. Garden Plain, a town of about 900 residents west of Wichita on U.S. 54, is required to test two samples a month.
There were no contaminants found in Garden Plain’s water supply in 2017 and the drinking water is safe. The city’s water comes from three ground water wells, a consumer confidence report says.
Wolfe was sentenced Monday in federal court in Wichita by U.S. District Judge John Broomes, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister’s office.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 3:40 PM.
