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Raw Sewage in Marsh: Georgetown Man Pleads Guilty
Columbia, South Carolina – Maurice Avent, a 48-year-old resident of Georgetown, has pleaded guilty in federal court to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act.
According to evidence presented at the hearing, in late August 2018, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) received a complaint about raw sewage in the marsh behind a hotel in Georgetown.
A duty officer from DHEC went to the hotel and observed a concrete pump station, also known as a wet well, with a black hose coming out of the top. The hose was attached to a sump pump, and raw sewage was inside the wet well.
The hose ran through the back parking lot, over a wooden fence, and into the marsh. The sump pump was running at the time and was discharging sewage into the marsh.
Maintenance man Maurice Avent was contacted and said that the two pumps that normally emptied the well had stopped working. Those pumps routed sewage from the wet well into the city sewage system.
When a fix was not immediately available, Avent improvised and bought the sump pump, directing the hose into the marsh. The hose had been in place for about a week, but the sump pump only activated when needed.
Avent later followed the suggestion of city and state government officials to put the hose into the city sewage opening, where the original pumps – when working – were routed.
The maximum penalty faced by Avent is imprisonment for one year, with a potential fine between $2,500 and $25,000 for each day of the violation.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the City of Georgetown investigated the case.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: Environment
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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