Sanville Utilities Inc. constructed and operated a sewage treatment plant near Bassett, Va., EPA said. According to EPA, the plant had a capacity of approximately 40,000 gallons per day in 1999, when the defendant failed to pay the electric bill. After repeated attempts to get the plant to pay the bill, the electric company cut off the power and the plant began to discharge untreated sewage into a nearby creek.
Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) determined that the creek had a fecal coliform bacteria level 160 times the maximum allowable limit, EPA reported. Bacteria from sewage can cause infections and intestinal diseases in people who come in contact with contaminated surface waters.