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LOUISIANA COMPANIES TO PAY $4.5 MILLION FOR WATER VIOLATION
Release Date: 01/20/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2000
LOUISIANA COMPANIES TO PAY $4.5
MILLION FOR WATER VIOLATION
MILLION FOR WATER VIOLATION
Seven Louisiana companies pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 in U.S. District Court in New Orleans to charges that they conspired to violate the Clean Water Act. Johnson Properties Inc., Johnson Utility Co. Inc., Utilities Management Services Inc., Seashore Utilities Inc., Seashore Utilities of Louisiana Inc., Thoroughbred Park Service Corp., and Tara Development Corp., admitted conspiring from 1991 to 1998 to improperly operate and maintain six wastewater treatment facilities located in and around Thibodaux and Houma, La. The defendants also admitted concealing maintenance and operation violations by submitting false monitoring information to EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Improper wastewater treatment and improper discharge monitoring can lead to the release of harmful levels of e.coli bacteria and other microscopic organisms which can produce intestinal illness in humans and harm aquatic organisms and wildlife. As part of the plea agreement, the defendants will pay a $4.36 million criminal fine and $165,000 in restitution to affected homeowners. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
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