A Nevada man was sentenced Tuesday for illegally discharging waste collected by a business he managed into a local wastewater treatment system, violating the Clean Water Act.
Matthew Thurman, general manager of Environmental Resources Inc., doing business as Easy Rooter Plumbing, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $680,000 fine and serve one year of supervised release for knowingly violating pretreatment standards under the Clean Water Act.
ERP was separately sentenced to three years of probation and a $680,000 fine.
For years, ERP and Thurman orchestrated illegal discharges of grease waste and wastewater collected from food-service businesses into the wastewater treatment system of the cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada. Local regulators warned ERP and Thurman about the illegal discharges, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened an investigation when the scheme continued.
During the investigation, Thurman lied to federal agents and falsely blamed competitors for the illegal discharges. The actions by Thurman and ERP jeopardised the integrity of the wastewater treatment system, creating significant environmental risks and increased maintenance costs passed on to consumers.
“The defendant defrauded clients, exposed Nevada communities to contaminated sewage, and engaged in conduct that required taxpayer dollars to be spent on costly repairs,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Nevadans depend on our clean water system for everyday life, and by knowingly illegally dumping waste into the treatment system, the defendants jeopardised the quality of life of our citizens in violation of the Clean Water Act, added U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada.
