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PA CALIFORNIAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL SEWAGE DISCHARGE

Release Date: 03/7/97
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PA CALIFORNIAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL SEWAGE DISCHARGE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1997

CALIFORNIAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL SEWAGE DISCHARGE

On March 3, Michael E. Valverde, supervisor of the California Men's Colony sewage treatment plant in San Luis Obispo, Calif., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Calif., to one count of violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging partially treated sewage into Chorro Creek, a tributary of the Morro Bay Estuary. Valverde also pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying water pollution monitoring records and reports that are required to be submitted to state and federal environmental protection agencies. The discharges took place in May 1996. Valverde faces a maximum of five years imprisonment and/or a maximum fine of $250,000 on each count. This case was investigated by EPA's Criminal investigation Division, the FBI and the Central Coast Region of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

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