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OHIO MAN SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 06/17/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1999
OHIO MAN SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

William B. Rhoad of Zanesville, Ohio, was sentenced on June 11, to serve 12 months in confinement by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus. Rhoad must also perform 384 hours of community service and serve one year on supervised release following his sentence. Rhoad had previously pleaded guilty to 35 counts of violating the Clean Water Act. Between May 1993 and November 1996, Rhoad was project engineer for the TCW Company of New Lexington, Ohio. TCW had a contract with Muskingum County, Ohio, to manage six wastewater treatment plants: West Muskingum, Crestmont/Lebar, Stonehenge, Vista View, Ash Meadows, and Lakeland Hills. Rhoad admitted that he failed to report the correct levels of ammonia, fecal coliform bacteria and other pollutants discharged from the plants over a three and one-half year period. Contact with waters that have high levels of fecal coliform bacteria can cause a variety of infectious diseases in people. Waters with high levels of ammonia are also harmful to fish and other aquatic life. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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