A man who managed a company hired to clean the National Mall storm water sewer system will spend the next 10 months in prison for dumping debris and wastewater into the Potomac River.
Patrick Brightwell, 48, of Bogart, Georgia, admitted to directing workers to dump waste into the Potomac at East Potomac Park from 2009 through 2011 rather than taking it to a disposal facility. Waste also was dumped at a manhole near Fort McNair.
His employees and subcontractors dumped waste illegally about two-thirds of the time and dumped at a proper disposal facility a third of the time, according to court documents.
Brightwell pleaded guilty in June to violating the Clean Water Act by knowingly discharging a pollutant without a permit and presenting false claims to the United States.
This prison sentence demonstrates how serious we are about enforcing the Clean Water Act. We will continue to use the criminal laws to protect our country’s most treasured natural resources," said U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. in a press release issued Tuesday.
Brightwell has also agreed to pay $230,899 in restitution.
