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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of violating the Clean Water Act in 2003, when hazardous chemicals were released into a regional sewer system from the New Carrollton and Branch Avenue rail yards.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Maryland Roger Titus placed the quasi-governmental transit agency on probation for 18 months, ordering officials to pay $200,000 in fines and to allow regular inspections of its Branch Avenue facility by either the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission or Environmental Protection Agency.

The charge stemmed from allegations that a highly corrosive chemical — hydrofluoric acid — was used during the hand washing of rail cars at the New Carrollton and later Branch Avenue rail yards between May and October of 2003, according to testimony from Assistant U.S. Attorney David Salem, who prosecuted the case.

Under the Clean Water Act, wastewater containing chemicals like hydrofluoric acid must be pretreated before it reaches the sewage system.

According to the charging documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland on Oct. 28, the wastewater at the New Carrollton plant was not pretreated before it was released.

Metro officials became aware of the problem around May 13, 2003, when the chemicals corroded several hundred feet of iron pipe leading to the WSSC sewage system, Salem said.

WMATA stopped hand washing at New Carrollton and moved the activities to the Branch Avenue rail yard a month later, in June 2003, according to the charging documents.

In October of that year, WSSC received reports from sensors within the sewer system that wastewater coming from the Branch Avenue station had high levels of acidity caused by hazardous chemicals in the untreated wastewater, Salem testified.

WMATA stopped the hand washing at the Branch Avenue rail yard several days after learning of the violation from WSSC, according to charging documents.

WSSC spokesman Michael McGill said that besides the corroded pipe at the New Carrollton station, the violations did not affect WSSC operations in Prince George's County.

Carol O'Keeffe, WMATA's general counsel, said during the sentencing hearing Wednesday the violation was not purposeful and that WMATA officials took immediate steps to address the problem.

"When we fell short of the law...it is because of miscommunication or misunderstanding, not because of intent," she testified.

WMATA was also represented by Baltimore-based attorney Warren Hamel, who referred all questions to WMATA.

Hamel argued before sentencing that probation was unnecessary, since WMATA has had an environmental compliance policy since November 2002 and there have been no further incidents at the Branch Avenue station since 2003.

However, Titus pushed Hamel and O'Keeffe to explain how the 2003 violations occurred if WMATA already had a policy on the books.

"There was a failure of commitment...about this policy in 2003," Titus said during the hearing, expressing concern such a failure could happen again.

During the probation period of 18 months, WMATA must allow at least six inspections of the Branch Avenue station; all results will come through Titus's office.

Titus also directed WMATA to notify its employees about the case and submit proof they are taking extra steps to make sure employees follow the environmental protection guidelines in the future.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland declined to comment on the sentencing.

In a statement released after sentencing, WMATA officials wrote the agency is "committed to protecting the environment."

Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency also attended the hearing and expressed support for the sentence.

"We were very pleased with the outcome," said David Lastra, a criminal enforcement attorney for the EPA. "The judge was asking the right questions."

E-mail Zoe Tillman at ztillman@gazette.net.