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SEWER PLANT OPERATOR SENTENCED

Release Date: 07/21/2000
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JULY 21, 2000

SEWER PLANT OPERATOR SENTENCED

Raymond Guanill, who was district manager in charge of operations at the Rodeo Sanitary District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Rodeo, Calif., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Oakland on July 13 to five months in prison, five months home confinement, a $3,000 fine and one year of supervised release for violating the Clean Water Act. The defendant previously admitted that he instructed his staff to allow wastewater to bypass a chlorine contact chamber, that he failed to report an overflow of sewage into San Pablo Bay and that he tampered with a monitoring method when he ordered plant operators to cancel certain tests. The release of partially treated or untreated wastewater into surface waters presents a risk of infections to people who come into contact with those waters and can harm aquatic organisms and wildlife. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oakland.

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