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10/26/2023
WT Staff
CrimeBox
CWA CrimeBox
Environmental Crimes Historic Conviction: Fiscal Year 1992; Case ID# CR_450
County WWTP manager convicted under Clean Water Act for falsifying reports
One of 56 Criminal Prosecutions in Ohio under the Clean Water Act (from 1989-2020)
The defendant in this case was the manager of the Allen County Sanitary Engineering Department in Ohio. In 1992, federal district court in Ohio was presented with a bill of information from EPA Criminal Investigators showing the defendant liable for violations of the national law regulating pollutant discharges to the waters of the USA. In this case, a trusted public servant was found falsifying the monthly operating reports of the County wastewater plant and convicted on all five charges under the Clean Water Act.
In 1972, the Clean Water Act was amended to "establish the basic structure for regulating pollutant discharges into the waters of the United States", according to Environmental Protection Agency Laws and Regulations. The Clean Water Act sets out:
- EPA authority to implement pollution control programs such as setting wastewater standards for industry
- maintains requirements to set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters
- makes it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions
Point sources include municipal wastewater treatment plants. The discharge permit requires monitoring and reporting to state authorities. Knowingly or negligently violating the terms of the permit, or falsifying records and reports can bring crimimal prosecution by the Department of Justice.
EPA's Criminal Investigation Division focuses on cases of willful and/or knowing violation, negligent violation demonstrating intent. According to the paper by Ozymy and Jarrell, the EPA determines to pursue criminal investigation when investigators feel the case involves "significant environmental harm and culpable conduct."1
The Allen County Sanitary Engineering department manager was convicted on five charges and sentenced to a federal fine and probation with the first six months served in home confinement.
Federal Fines: $6318; Special fees: $250; Probation: 60 months
Endnote: 1. Dr. Joshua Ozymy and Dr. Melisssa L. Jarrell, Illegal Discharge: Exploring the History of the Criminal Enforcement of the U.S. Clean Water Act, 32 Fordham Envtl. L. Rev. 195 (2021) available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/elr/vol32/iss2/2
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