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PA SEWER DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT PLEADS GUILTY FOR VIOLATING THE CLEAN WATER ACT

Release Date: 05/01/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MAY 1, 1998

SEWER DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT PLEADS GUILTY FOR VIOLATING
THE CLEAN WATER ACT

On April 24, Dennis Arnold, Assistant Superintendent of the Northeast Public Sewer District in Jefferson County, Mo., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis with two counts of violating the Clean Water Act. Arnold admitted that he discharged sewage sludge from the Ron-Rog Treatment Plant into Saline Creek in November 1996 in violation of the Sewer District’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Saline Creek is a tributary of the Mississippi River. The sludge contained high
levels of fecal coliform bacteria. Ingestion of water containing high levels of fecal coliform can cause intestinal illness in people and can also harm wildlife, fish, and other aquatic life forms. Arnold also admitted that he falsified a discharge monitoring report to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources by claiming that fecal coliform discharges from the facility were within the limits set by the facility’s NPDES permit. Arnold faces a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and/or fines of up to $250,000 on each count. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division.
R-54 ###