Jury Convicts Eastern Idaho Man for Hazardous Waste Violations

A federal jury in Pocatello yesterday returned guilty verdicts against a former Salmon resident for violating the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Act and illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste, violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Krister “Kris” Sven Evertson, 53, of Wasilla, Alaska, also known as Krister Ericksson, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28 at the federal courthouse in Pocatello. He faces maximum penalties of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the three counts.

Evertson is the former owner and president of SBH Corp., a Nevada corporation that is now defunct. He transported 10 metric tons of sodium metal from its port of entry at the Seattle-Tacoma Port Complex to Salmon, Idaho, where he used some of the sodium in an effort to manufacture sodium borohydride. Everston arranged for the transportation of the sodium metal not used in the manufacturing process and several above-ground storage tanks which contained sludges and other liquids to a facililty in Salmon. Sodium metal and the materials in the tanks were highly reactive with water, and the jury found that Evertson failed to take protective measures to reduce the risk that the transported material would react and damage persons or property.