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Owner of Benn’s Church, Va., Sewage Treatment Plant Pleads Guilty to Clean Water Act Felony

Release Date: 9/17/2002
Contact Information: Donna Heron, 215-814-5113

Donna Heron, 215-814-5113

PHILADELPHIA – On September 16, 2002, Robert B. Gill pleaded guilty in federal court in Norfolk, Va. to a felony violation of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

According to the government's August 13, 2002 indictment, Gill and DLG Public Utility Corporation, Inc., unlawfully operated the company's wastewater treatment facility in Benn's Church, Va., which treats sewage from the Queen Anne's Court housing development.

Under a Clean Water Act permit issued by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, this facility is authorized to discharge treated wastewater into Jones Creek, a tributary of the Pagan River. The permit imposes maintenance and operation, and monitoring requirements, and limits the discharge of several pollutants, including ammonia, fecal coliform, and total suspended solids.

Mr. Gill pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly violating the permit's operation and maintenance requirements, by failing to take reasonable steps to prevent discharge of pollution in excess of permit limits. This violation occurred in June 1999.

The court set a sentencing date of Dec. 9, 2002 at 11 a.m.


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