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OREGON PLEADS GUILTY IN CLEAN WATER ACT CASE
Release Date: 06/19/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1998
OREGON PLEADS GUILTY IN CLEAN WATER ACT CASE
The city of Waldport, Ore., pleaded guilty on June 16, in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to violating the Clean Water Act by failing to properly operate its wastewater treatment facility, failing to determine if wastewater discharged from the facility complied with its discharge permit, and illegally discharging pollutants into Lint Slough, an adjacent stream that empties into Alsea Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This was the first case in which an Oregon municipality pleaded guilty to a federal environmental crime. The city’s Mayor admitted that the city discharged approximately 3.5 million gallons of water polluted with human waste and other contaminants into the creek during a two week period in 1996. When sentenced, the city faces a maximum fine of up to $200,000. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon State Police.
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