Greenville, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that Timothy Howard, age 50, of Greer, South Carolina has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Anderson, to two counts of Violating Pretreatment Standards of the Clean Water Act, violations of 33 U.S.C. §§ 1317 and 1319, and 40 C.F.R. 403.5(b)(8). United States District Judge Timothy M. Cain of Anderson accepted the guilty plea and will impose sentence after he has reviewed the presentence report which will be prepared by the U.S. Probation Office.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that on April 2, 2011, Timothy Howard used an American Waste hauling truck to dump waste into a grease trap outside of a Publix in Greenville County, South Carolina. The grease trap was connected to the ReWa - Renewable Water Resources system. The site was not a designated waste disposal discharge point, and the illegal dumping violated both the Clean Water Act and Howard’s permit with ReWa.
On June 18, 2013, Howard again was caught illegally dumping into another grease trap. The grease trap on this date was located behind a closed restaurant in Lyman, South Carolina, and was connected to the Town of Lyman system. Again, this was not a designated discharge point, and dumping at this site violated both the Clean Water Act and the Town of Lyman regulations. At all times relevant to the charges, Timothy Howard was the owner and operator of American Waste, Inc., also known as American Waste Septic Tank Service.
Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty for each count of Violating Pretreatment Standards of the Clean Water Act is imprisonment for 3 years and/or a fine of $50,000 per day of the violations.
The case was investigated by agents of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Criminal Investigations for South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, the Duncan Police Department, and the Lyman Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Lea Schoen of the Greenville is prosecuting the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
