Coors pleaded guilty to criminal and civil water pollution charges Monday, but SAMTB members remained steadfast in their views to keep Coors advertising on the buses for now.

The brewing company, which came under fire during the last Student Association Mass Transit Board meeting, will pay fines of $650,000 for dumping cancer-causing toxins into a creek in Golden, Colorado, said prosecuting attorney Linda Davidson of the Colorado Attorney General’s office.

Coors spokesman Jon Goldman said Coors “has made some mistakes” and the fines are one way to help correct them.

The convictions are a result of investigations by the state, the press and the Colorado Health Department, who pressured Coors into finding and admitting several environmental violations, Davidson said.

NIU student Mary Heather Hannah referred to similar violations when she asked the SAMTB Monday to take Coors advertising off the buses. The SAMTB decided to delay a decision to get more information about the company.

However, the convictions made public Tuesday did not persuade board members to alter their positions.

“We just don’t have any guidelines for judging something like this,” said SAMTB member Russ Stewart. He also said that even though he was personally concerned, the violations were probably not bad enough to stop the SAMTB from taking Coors advertisements.

SAMTB member Henry Trefftz agreed with Stewart, adding that the SAMTB would probably not act on Coors unless there were “patterns of direct malice.”