A man already in criminal and civil trouble for allegedly ignoring environmental regulations and allowing raw sewage to flow for years in a Brainerd subdivision has been cited for illegally dumping waste down a county manhole.
Records show that the Hamilton County Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority fined David Hammel $11,000 for an incident April 13 in which he apparently directed a plumbing and drain service to dump 30,500 gallons of raw sewage down a manhole in the Whisper Creek subdivision without proper authorization.
The fine seems to be the latest snafu for Mr. Hammel, who runs a company called Rainbro Inc. He is charged criminally with four counts of unlawful pollution and two counts of vandalism for the alleged neglect of a sewage pump the company owns and maintains at the Windstone subdivision in Brainerd.
Rainbro is under an agreed order by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to pay thousands of dollars in civil penalties and to fix the problems at Windstone, which include a 12- to 14-hour overflow in 2005 that left an estimated 34,000 gallons of raw sewage spread among people’s homes.
Mr. Hammel is in the process of getting the criminal charges against him resolved. If he fails to comply with the order from TDEC, he will end up owing close to $87,000, documents state.
Mr. Hammel’s attorney did not return a call Friday seeking comment.
TDEC spokeswoman Tisha Calabrese-Benton said there are no plans to take additional action against Mr. Hammel for the recent incident.
“Should the department decide it necessary to take action ... that would be an action separate from the agreed order (to fix the problems at Windstone).”
Hamilton County District Attorney Boyd Patterson, who is prosecuting Mr. Hammel in criminal court, declined to comment on the new development and would not answer questions about whether Mr. Hammel’s latest civil violation will affect the outcome of his criminal case.
In addition to the 2005 overflow, TDEC documents indicate there were at least five other incidents in which raw sewage flowed freely at Windstone and could not be contained.
Documents state the Windstone homeowners’ association has provided proof of other “numerous overflows” over the years as well.
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