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WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPER CHARGED WITH CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS
Release Date: 06/12/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 1998
WEST VIRGINIA DEVELOPER CHARGED WITH
CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS
James R. Chaplin of Morgantown, W.Va., was indicted on June 4, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Elkins, on five additional counts of violating the Clean Water Act. He is now indicted for a total of 23 violations of various federal laws. Chaplin constructed and managed housing developments for low income families throughout northern West Virginia. The five new charges state that at various times in the past three years, Chaplin allowed wastewater containing high levels of fecal coliform to be discharged from sewage treatment facilities at developments he constructed in West Virginia. The polluted waters entered local creeks and eventually flowed into the West Fork and Ohio Rivers. Human contact with waters containing high levels of fecal coliform bacteria can produce a variety of gastrointestinal and other infections. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.
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