DAYTON, Ohio — The president of Multi-Service, a Dayton industrial laundry, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last week to discharging wastewater in violation of federal standards.
Melvin L. Tatman, 61, the company's sole shareholder, is to be sentenced later this year. He pleaded himself and his company guilty to knowingly violating a pretreatment standard of the Clean Water Act, a felony, and to two misdemeanor counts of negligently violating pretreatment standards.
Court records show a multi-agency investigation revealed the laundry illegally bypassed its own pretreatment system in 2002 and discharged wastewater with a pH level below 5.0 into Dayton's sewer system between March 2003 and May 2003.
Multi-Service faces possible fines totaling $1.2 million. A private company now oversees the laundry's pretreatment facility, the Dayton Daily News reports.
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