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SEPTEMBER 26, 2000

Mark Radell, a former Environmental Protection Agency attorney who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with a lawsuit involving three Wisconsin tribes, was placed on a one-year probation for his crime.

Along with another now-deceased EPA employee, Radell was alleged to have created and backdated documents regarding agreements to treat the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, and the Menominee Nation of Wisconsin as states for the purposes of federal clean and safe water laws.

When the three were approved for the treatment as states (TAS) designation, Wisconsin sued the EPA in 1997. During the course of the litigation, charges of falsifying documents and lying about it arose against Radell and Claudia Johnson.

The Menominee subsequently withdrew from the TAS process and the EPA withdrew the designations for the other two as a result of the lawsuit. The EPA also paid the state $369,000 in court costs.

The state had challenged the designations because the overwhelming majority of land on the three reservations is non-Indian owned.

Radell will also pay a $5,000 fine and perform 50 hours of community service.

Related Stories:
EPA attorney pleads guilty (Enviro 06/28)

Relevant Links:
The American Indian Environmental Office of the Environmental Protection Agency: www.epa.gov/owindian/index.htm
EPA Region V: www.epa.gov/region5
EPA Region III: www.epa.gov/region3