WHEELING, W.Va. — A Springfield man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for violating permits and discharging untreated sewage from his sewage treatment plant.
United States Attorney Bill Powell announced that Timothy Peer, 55, was indicted in Wheeling for management of Mountainaire Village Utility, LLC, where was the owner.
According to a release, Peer was owner of the company located near Ridgeley from early 2008 to July 2016 and the released stated that from 2014 to 2016, Peer is accused of failing to maintain the treatment plant, resulting in untreated and undertreated sewage being discharged into the North Branch of the Potomac River, violating the Clean Water Act and his permit.
Along with that accusation, Peer is accused of falsely reporting quarterly testing on the wastewater from the plant, and of continuing to charge customers for the treatment of their sewage despite the services not being provided.
Powell announced that Peer is charged with one count of Knowing Violation of Permit Conditions, five counts of Knowing Discharges of Pollutants in Violation of Permit, one count of Knowing Discharge of a Pollutant Without a Permit, six counts of False Statements on Discharge Monitoring Reports, and one count of Mail Fraud.
Peer faces up to 20 years behind bars and a fine of up to $250,000 for the Mail Fraud count, up to two years incarceration and a fine of up to $10,000 for each of the Discharge counts.
For the Knowing Violation of Permit Conditions, Peer faces not more than three years, not less than $5,000 and not more than $50,000 per day of violation or twice the amount of gain or loss or $250,000 total.