NC plant operator, supervisor sentenced for Clean Water Act violations

[Omaha Steve]

I'm a certified Waste Water Treatment Operator Level II. I can't believe they were stupid enough to try this.

http://www.watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=71992

Monday, June 01, 2009

ATLANTA — The former operator and supervisor of a Dallas, NC, wastewater treatment plant have been sentenced for violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), according to a May 29 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) news release.

Kirby Dean Case, 53, of Lowell, NC, former operator, and George Wallace Hughes, III, 50, of Iron Station, NC, Case’s supervisor, previously pleaded guilty to violating the CWA between the summer and December 12, 2007, by discharging pollutants from the town of Dallas Waste Water Treatment Plant into the Dallas Branch of the Catawba River Basin.

Case also admitted falsifying, in reports to North Carolina environmental regulators, levels of chlorine and ammonia as well as fecal bacteria and other pollutants found in water samples at the plant.

On May 28 Case received a sentence of two months of home confinement, two years of supervised probation, 400 hours of community service and a $5,000 criminal fine, the EPA reported.

Hughes previously was sentenced for a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act. On May 28, he received a sentence of one year of supervised probation, 200 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine.

The investigation was conducted by the EPA and the state Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

As WaterTech Online® reported, the plant was fined $141,123 for allowing untreated wastewater into a stream and for other violations stemming from a November 2007 North Carolina Division of Water Quality inspection.

To read the full release, click here.

For related information, click here.