City Officials Can Be Charged If Sewers Aren’t Fixed, Arkansas Prosecutor Says

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An Arkansas county prosecutor said he has the legal authority to bring criminal charges against Bethel Heights city officials if they don’t take action to fix their system.

State records show Bethel Heights’ two wastewater treatment plants have operated out of permit compliance for at least five years. Benton County prosecutor Nathan Smith said he reviewed documents from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and Bethel Heights residents showing the city’s wastewater treatment systems have been improperly processing wastewater and have been allowing contaminated water to run off onto neighboring private property.

Smith sent a letter to Mayor Cynthia Black telling her she was in violation of state law by allowing water or air pollution that could adversely affect human health, animal or plant life or property. Smith’s letter directs the city to ensure fecal coliform levels released from the facility are within the bounds of the permit granted to the city by the state.

Bethel Heights officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. But the city released a statement denying allegations that the city operates its wastewater treatment plant outside of its permitted limit. The city said the high fecal levels are caused by livestock operations on private land adjacent to the treatment plant. City officials believe wastewater runoff on neighbors’ property was caused by rain, the statement said.

Smith said the mayor and other city officials can be held criminally liable if the city fails to cooperate with state Department of Environmental Quality and clean up the waste. Conviction is punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $50,000 fine, Smith’s letter said.

He gave Bethel Heights officials 30 days to start fixing the sewer system and cleaning the treatment plant and neighboring properties.

Joe Brooks is one of the nearly 3,000 residents in Bethel Heights. He said Smith’s move is a step in the right direction.

Brooks’ family owns property adjacent to the wastewater treatment plant. He and several other families said the city releases untreated water onto their land and into their ponds.

“But all their malicious and illegal activities are not out in the open yet,” Brooks said.