Contact Us

Newsroom

All News Releases By Date

 

MISSISSIPPI MAN SENTENCED FOR WASTEWATER VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 05/22/98
Contact Information:


FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1998

MISSISSIPPI MAN SENTENCED FOR WASTEWATER VIOLATIONS

Melvin Thomas Ford, III, of Tupelo, Miss., was sentenced on May 15, to one year and one day in prison in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford for violating the federal Clean Water Act by operating a wastewater bypass at the city of Tupelo’s wastewater treatment facility. The bypass allowed improperly treated sewage solids and sludge to enter into Town Creek. Discharging improperly treated sewage sludge and solids can cause a variety of intestinal illnesses in people and can be harmful to fish and aquatic life. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.

R-69 ###