Two employees lied about testing samples in St. John Parish's amoeba-plagued water system, indictment says

Kevin Branch and Danielle Roussel

Posted: Oct 20, 2014 / 03:47 PM AST

Updated: Oct 20, 2014 / 03:46 PM AST

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ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH (WGNO) – A grand jury indicted two St. John Parish employees Monday afternoon stemming from an investigation into the parish’s amoeba-plagued water system.

54-year-old Kevin Branch of LaPlace and 43-year-old Danielle Roussel of Paulina have been charged with one count of malfeasance in office and one count of filing or maintaining false public records.

The indictment alleges, Branch and Roussel did not take water samples they were assigned to do during August 1- 27th. Using the parish vehicles’ GPS investigators were able to determine that Branch did not stop at testing sites at least 7 out of the 25 day. And Roussel did not stop at sites 1 out of the 4 days she alleged to have done so.

“It’s unbelievable really because we trust them. We thought they were doing their jobs, and I’m kind of shocked,” says Reserve resident Sandra Remondet, “I can’t believe it.”

According to Laura Gerdes Colligan with the Office of the Attorney General, the two have been given 24 hours to turn themselves in to the St. John Parish Jail.

Parish President Natalie Robottom issued the below statement regarding the indictments:

“This afternoon I received information from the Attorney General’s Office that the Grand Jury returned indictments on two of our employees in the Utilities Department. No additional information was provided, but once received, it will be reviewed with legal counsel and a path forward decided.

While I am disappointed in the events associated with the Emergency Order, I remain committed to taking all actions necessary to make sure our water is safe and to prevent this from happening again.”

In September, Louisiana State Police investigators began looking into data inconsistencies in water records in St. John.

About three weeks ago they delivered their findings to the State Attorney General’s Office for review and consideration of criminal charges.

According to St. John Parish employees, Kevin Branch and Danielle Roussel are both water samplers for the Utilities Department. At this time the two are still employed by St. John pending the outcome of the investigation.

Bond for Branch has been set at $40,000. Bond for Roussel has been set at $30,000.

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