North Carolina wastewater treatment plant operator sentenced for illegal discharge

Jan. 21, 2003 -- Danny Hill, owner of Danny Hill and Associates, which operated wastewater treatment facilities in central North Carolina, was sentenced on Dec. 20 to serve five months in prison, five months in home confinement and provide 100 hours of community service by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro.

Hill previously plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act by discharging wastewater exceeding the levels permitted in his discharge permit for Biological Oxygen Demand and Total Suspended Solids into a tributary of Caraway Creek.

The discharge, which occurred in January 2001, was from the wastewater treatment plant at the Countryside Communities LLC located in Randolph County, N.C. Exceeding discharge permit levels can harm fish and aquatic life and can make surface waters unfit for drinking and recreation.

The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Greensboro.