Former Public Works Director for Harlem, Georgia Sentenced to Prison for Clean Water Act Violations

AUGUSTA, GA—Edward J. Tarver, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced that Daniel Webster Cason, the former public works director for the City of Harlem, Georgia, who was responsible for the operation of that city’s wastewater treatment plant, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge J. Randal Hall to imprisonment for 12 months and a day on his convictions for violations of the Clean Water Act. On March 31, 2009, Cason entered guilty pleas to three counts of making false statements in records and reports regarding the treatment plant’s measurements of fecal coliform and biochemical oxygen demand in violation of Title 33, United States Code, Section 1319(c)(4).

During today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Hall also determined that the defendant knowingly caused pumping with a portable pump from the treatment plant into the Uchee Creek tributary located adjacent to the treatment plant, without a permit to do so. Judge Hall ruled that this conduct resulted in an ongoing, continuous, or repetitive discharge, release, or emission of a pollutant into the environment.

Tarver noted that, in addition to imprisonment, Cason will be required to pay a $3,000 fine and a special assessment of $300. After his release from prison, the defendant will serve a year of supervised release during which he must complete 100 hours of community service.

Tarver stated, “The investigation of the City of Harlem, Georgia’s wastewater treatment plant and this prosecution demonstrate that the United States Attorney’s Office will remain committed to the Clean Water Act’s goal of restoring and maintaining the quality of the Nation's waters.”

Similarly, Maureen O'Mara, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal enforcement program in Atlanta, said, “Today’s sentence sends a clear message that those who commit environmental crimes will be prosecuted.”

Tarver praised the work of EPA Special Agent Charles Carfagno, who was assisted by FBI Special Agent Paul Kubala, in the investigation which led to this indictment, and the efforts of Assistant United States Attorneys David M. Stewart and Carlton Bourne, Jr., who represented the government in this prosecution.