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RV park owner convicted of felony pollution A jury Tuesday convicted the owner of a Rogue River trailer park of felony water pollution for pumping hundreds of gallons of raw sewage directly into the river. Harrison "Hank" Vann, the 61-year-old owner of Circle W RV Park, faces a hefty fine but no jail time for breaking the law, which requires a DEQ permit before anything � especially human waste � can be discharged into waterways. Charged with two counts of first- and second-degree water pollution, a crime in Oregon since 1993, Vann denied the waste from the septic tank was anything but soapy gray water and refused to agree to a plea. The resulting trial revolved around a simple issue: was tank No. 2 filled with the liquid known as No. 1? According to testimony, the trailer park�s septic system had been malfunctioning for several days in late March, filling the second of two septic tanks with liquid effluent and setting off incessant alarms. On March 30, deciding not to hire a professional septic-tank pumper, Vann instead rented a pump and ran a hose down to the nearby riverbank. One of his tenants called the police. In closing arguments, defense attorney Larry Parker argued the state offered "not a shred" of evidence the discharge was noxious sewage or that his client knowingly violated the law. The case was maybe a civil matter, Parker argued, not criminal. "No harm, no foul," he said, noting the hose didn�t quite reach the river. "Where is the harm here?" But prosecutor Karen Loomis recounted the testimony of a half-dozen witnesses, most of them former tenants of the trailer park, who said earlier in the trial that the odor from the tank was unmistakable. "Ma�am, if you was standin� 200 yards from that thing you could smell it," one witness said. "Sewage from the bathroom, that�s what it smelled like." "It was stinky," another testified. Loomis argued it was unnecessary to collect samples of the discharge, mainly because it was obvious what it was. As for Vann�s knowledge of the law, she pointed out that he was forced to upgrade the septic system shortly after he bought the place in 1993. Although the river, flowing at roughly 10,000 gallons a second in March, presumably would have quickly diluted the discharge, Loomis urged the jury to use common sense. "You have to ask yourself, �Would I have wanted to be there that day, fishing, rafting, whatever?� " she said. "I don�t think so." The jury deliberated less than an hour, finding Vann guilty by a vote of 11-1 on the felony charge (10 votes were needed for conviction). They were unanimous on the second-degree misdemeanor charge. Trial judge Ray White set sentencing for Sept. 7. Loomis said the fine could exceed $6,000. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA