All-Out Sewer owner facing $11,000 fine from city

Just convicted of multiple violations of the federal Clean Water Act, Ray Caldwell now faces a $11,000 fine from the city of Longview for discharging bacteria-laden sludge into a stormwater ditch that leads into the Columbia River.

City stormwater manager Josh Johnson said he didnt know for sure where the sludge containing fecal coliform bacteria was coming from.

Its most likely a problem with their operation or their piping, Johnson said Wednesday.

The city served Caldwell, the owner of All Out Sewer and Drain, with a notice and order of violation Monday.

He was very accommodating. He immediately directed his staff to begin cleaning the lines like Id asked him to, Johnson said.

Under city code, its illegal to discharge anything into the storm drain system other than stormwater. During a city inspection last year, All-Out co-owner Randy Dingus told city staff that employees rinse the inside and outside of septic pumper trucks in the business wash area, which has a storm drain connected to the ditch.

The $11,000 fine may be the least of Caldwells worries, given his legal troubles. On Dec. 16, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle found Caldwell guilty of 25 felony counts of violating the federal Clean Water Act, six counts of mail fraud and two counts of making false statements. He will be sentenced March 10 and faces big fines and prison time. He was accused of pumping septic waste from his collection trucks into the city sewer system to avoid disposal fees and vastly underreporting the amount of septage he collected from customers.

Caldwell did not return a call for comment Wednesday about the citys fine.

Caldwell was chairman of the citys Stormwater Advisory Committee until resigning last April after the city fined him $500 for allegedly pumping liquids from a basement sump pump into a stormwater drain. Caldwell was on the committee when the city created its stormwater pollution laws.

According to the notice the city issued to Caldwell this week, so much material had accumulated at the companys stormwater outfall last October that the discharge had to flow under a cake of dried sludge before reaching the water in the ditch. City employees observed a chocolate-colored, bubbly, thick soup or pudding-like material that covered a 100-square-foot area around All-Outs outfall. Also, the grass near the outfall was stained with a dried, black substance up to a foot above the water line.

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All-Out Sewer owner facing $11,000 fine from city