Environmental Criminal Enforcement/Clean Water Act: Georgia Wastewater Operator Indicted for Alleged Violations
June 09, 2026
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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Christopher Samuel Jones (“Jones”) was the subject of a criminal indictment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act. See Criminal No. 4:26-CR-8(CDL).
Jones is described as having created a business (Jones Water and Wastewater Consulting [“JWWC”]).
Through JWWC, Jones is stated to have entered into an agreement where he acted on behalf of the City of Fort Gaines, Georgia public owned treatment works (“POTW”) as its operator. Jones is stated to have been responsible for ensuring compliance with the permit and for accurately reporting testing results on the required Clean Water Act Discharge Monitoring Reports.
The Indictment alleges in part that Jones:
- Discharged and caused the discharge of effluent into the Chattahoochee River at the Fort Gaines POTW outfall point which exceeded the applicable limitation on coliform bacteria.
- Provided false written information to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by statutory grant of authority to effectuate the Clean Water Act, relevant state law, and state and federal regulations – prepared and presented a Discharge Monitoring Report which purported that coliform testing had been performed by him and that the results were in compliance with the effluent limitations of the applicable NPDES permit when, in truth and in fact as he then knew, the effluent contained an amount of coliform bacteria well in excess of the permitted amount.
A copy of the Indictment can be found here.
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