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Strip club boat owners facing waste dumping charges

Wild Alaskan owners Darren and Kimberly Byler are accused of illegally dumping raw sewage and lying about it to the Coast Guard.

By Ben Hooper
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KODIAK, Alaska, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The owners of an Alaskan boat used as a floating strip club are facing federal charges for allegedly dumping human waste into the water, prosecutors said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Darren and Kimberly Byler, owners of the Wild Alaskan floating strip club in Kodiak, were indicted by a federal grand jury for violating the Refuse Act by dumping raw sewage into a Kodiak harbor.

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Prosecutors said Kimberly Byler told Coast Guard investigators the boat's waste was stored in a 5,000-gallon tank for disposal by a commercial waste firm. Darren Byler told them the waste would be unloaded at a St. Herman Harbor pier or dumped at an offshore site in the ocean.

"The indictment alleges that these representations to the U.S. Coast Guard were false," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Waste from the Wild Alaskan was being piped from the customer and employee bathrooms directly overboard and into St. Herman Harbor."

The Bylers each face up to a year in jail and a $25,000 fine for the alleged Refuse Act violations and an additional five years in jail and fines of up to $250,000 for charges of making false statements to the Coast Guard.

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The Wild Alaskan was in business between June 25, 2014 and November 30, 2014, when its liquor license was revoked.

Darren Byler was arraigned Monday and Kimberly Byler is not yet in custody, officials said.

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