FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 5, 1998
Contact: Jeff Nelligan
Telephone: (202) 366-6312
OIG 35-98
DOT’s Inspector
General Announces
Charges Against Seven Louisiana Firms
For Clean Water Act Violations
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General today announced a 31-count indictment charging seven Louisiana firms and their executives with violations of the Clean Water Act.
The OIG has protection of the environment as one of its top investigative priorities and was working as part of an environmental task force composed of the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The defendants allegedly failed to properly operate and maintain wastewater facilities at six housing subdivisions in and around Thibodaux and Houma, La. The six subdivisions are known as Thoroughbred Park, Magnolia Park, Midway, Plantation Trace, Oak Grove and Tara subdivisions.
Prosecutors say the alleged failures led to pollution of nearby waterways. In an effort to conceal their poor maintenance and operation, the defendants allegedly submitted false monitoring information to the EPA and fabricated the existence of a laboratory.
"Environmental crimes are an assault against the public and the natural resources of the United States," said Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead. "The intentional discharge of sewage into navigable waters is a criminal act that must be investigated and prosecuted."
Named in the conspiracy charge are Glenn K. Johnson, Montell Watkins, and Carol Rowell, present and former executives of Johnson Properties, Inc., the largest operator of wastewater treatment facilities in the state. A related company, C.J. Cox Construction Company, Inc., of Brookhaven, Miss., also was named.
Johnson, Watkins and their firm also are charged with violating the terms and conditions of wastewater discharge permits issued by the EPA to the wastewater facilities at the various subdivisions owned and operated by Johnson Properties, Inc.
The indictment further charges Johnson with witness-tampering and obstruction of a criminal investigation for his alleged attempts to bribe a witness to withhold material information from criminal investigators.
The maximum penalties for the conspiracy charges are up to a period of five years plus fines. The maximum term of imprisonment and fines for the Clean Water Act permit violations are up to five years for each count charged and $50,000 per day for each violation. The maximum term of imprisonment and fines for false statements under the Clean Water Act are up to five years and fines up to $10,000 per false statement. The maximum term of imprisonment and fine for the tampering and obstruction charges is 15 years.
The case was investigated by the OIG and the FBI with assistance from the federal EPA, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
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