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LOUISIANA SEWAGE TREATMENT COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT CONSPIRACY VIOLATION AND OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE

Release Date: 06/29/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2000

LOUISIANA SEWAGE TREATMENT COMPANY OWNER
SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT CONSPIRACY
VIOLATION AND OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE


Glenn Kelly Johnson, owner of Johnson Properties Inc., which owns more than 200 wastewater treatment facilities in seven Southern States including Louisiana, was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment, 36 months probation and was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine and $250,000 in restitution to homeowners on June 21, in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. Johnson previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Water Act and to obstruction of justice by offering a former employee money to lie to federal investigators about false discharge monitoring reports that had been filed with regulators. From 1991-1998, Johnson failed to properly maintain wastewater treatment facilities and diverted customers’ fees for his personal use. Failing to maintain wastewater treatment plants and improper wastewater treatment 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. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department of Transportation-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. Department of Justice Environmental Crimes section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans.

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