Koster
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Legal Newsline) - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has announced a lawsuit against a Johnson County business that operates a wastewater treatment facility over alleged violations of Missouri's Clean Water Law.
Koster alleges that G.A.A.R LLC,, which owns and operates a single-cell lagoon wastewater treatment system serving the Playhouse Lounge, has violated the Clean Water Law numerous times.
The suit alleges that the company failed to submit an engineering evaluation report, that it discharged wastewater in a location reasonably certain to cause pollution to the Devil's Branch river, that it failed to prevent a bypass of wastewater from the treatment facility, and that it failed to renew its operating permit.
Koster alleges that the DNR witnessed wastewater seeping through the berms of G.A.A.R. LLC's lagoon and discharging from the property. The suit also alleges that pools of partially treated wastewater surrounded the lagoon, that beer bottles and duckweed covered the surface of the lagoon and that there was extensive damage to the over-vegetated lagoon berms.
"Missourians have a right to expect that waste systems are installed in compliance with the law so they won't pollute our water," Koster said. "Our office will not look the other way when businesses fail to comply with the law."
Koster is seeking a permanent injunction requiring the defendant comply with the Clean Water Law, as well as payment of all costs associated with the case and a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per day for each Clean Water Law violation.