BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced an agreement on Friday with the owner of an Attleboro-based industrial wastewater treatment facility to resolve allegations the company failed to properly process and treat non-hazardous industrial wastewater.
NewStream LLC allegedly violated state laws and regulations by unlawfully diluting the concentration of pollutants in wastewater instead of removing them through proper treatment. The company allegedly allowed a higher mass of pollutants to be discharged to the Ten Mile River, a body of water that already suffers from high levels of pollutants.
NewStream allegedly violated the Massachusetts Clean Waters Act, the Hazardous Waste Management Act and its sewer connection permit.
"We allege that this facility failed to properly treat its wastewater, likely resulting in more pollution entering Massachusetts waters and therefore greater harm to the environment," Coakley said. "This settlement will require NewStream to fully comply with state laws by properly and effectively treating its contaminated industrial wastewater, which is critical to the health of our ecological systems."
Under the terms of a consent judgment, NewSteam must pay a civil penalty of up to $200,000, $75,000 of which will be suspended and waived if the company completes an extensive list of work required by the agreement. NewSteam must also submit detailed information to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, complete a study evaluating potential air pollutant emissions, implement detailed wastewater classification and acceptance procedures, and reconfigure its treatment system.
NewStream settles pollution lawsuit brought by Mass. AG
