Havre company fined for Fort Belknap sewage dumping

A federal judge in Great Falls ordered a Havre construction company to pay a heavy fine after the company pleaded guilty to negligent discharge of sewage.

The U. S. Attorney's Office for Montana said in a press release that federal Magistrate Judge Keith Strong Tuesday fined T.P. Construction $25,000 for pumping the septic tanks of six residences on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and discharging the sewage on their property without permission.

No one from T.P. Construction, commonly known as Patrick Construction, was available when called for comment.

The investigation began when a Fort Belknap resident complained to tribal officials in November 2009.

"The improper disposal of septic waste can present a serious threat to people's health and the environment," Lori Hanson, special agent in charge of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's criminal enforcement program in Montana said in the release. "EPA is committed to protecting communities from criminal activity that threatens public health, particularly in low-income and minority communities. Today's sentence demonstrates that those who put human health and the environment at risk will be prosecuted. "

"The conduct of this defendant was deplorable, " said Michael Cotter, U.S. attorney for the District of Montana. "There is no justification for the illegal dumping of human waste by T.P. Construction on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

"I applaud the diligent investigation in this case by the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Environmental Program Office and the United States Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division, " Cotter added.

According to the release, the original complainant reported that several families had decided to hire the company to come pump their septic systems on the same day, to reduce the overall cost of mileage and the dumping fee charged by the company.

After the systems were pumped on Nov. 19, 2009, the complainant found a trail of raw sewage some 100 yards long next to his horse corral, in an area where his children often played.

EPA's Criminal Investigation Division found five other residences where T.P Construction also had dumped the sewage on the owners' property without their permission, had no signed permission slips and had not properly logged the work done, and that the company's actions had violated federal and state law.