SANTA ANA, California
The former owner of a wastewater treatment facility in Orange
offi has been indicted him and his company – Klean Waters, Inc. – in a scheme that discharged untreated industrial wastes into an Orange County sewer system, among other violations of federal environmental laws, officials stated.
Tim Miller, 64, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, along with Klean Waters, were named in a two-count indictment filed Wednesday.
The grand jury
indictment charges both defendants with participating in a conspiracy and discharging without a permit into a publicly owned treatment works operated by the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD).
In the scheme dating back to the establishment of Klean Waters in 2012 and continuing for several years, officials stated Miller and his company allegedly did the following:
- Discharged wastewater that was not pretreated according to federal standards
- Failed to perform self-monitoring and prepare accurate reports Made false statements about their discharges
- Tampered with monitoring devices put in place by the OCSD discharged untreated wastewater without a permit
- Prevented inspectors from reviewing company documents or collecting samples from the company’s facility, according to the conspiracy charge in the indictment.
Klean Waters allegedly discharged untreated wastewater that contained pollutants – including firefighting foam and various metals – or that simply never had been tested after being brought to the facility for treatment.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
If convicted of the two charges in the indictment, Miller is facing up to eight years in federal prison. Klean Waters could be sentenced to pay fines of up to $300,000.