Former treatment plant superintendent is released

EUREKA SPRINGS -- Former wastewater treatment plant superintendent Michael Todd Wegrzyn was released from the Carroll County Jail on his own recognizance on Jan. 28 after being charged with purposefully polluting Leatherwood Creek and impairing the operation of a vital public facility.

Wegrzyn, 42, was arrested in Pea Ridge on Jan. 19 in connection with two alleged violations of the city's Waste Water Treatment Permit after evidence of untreated or undertreated waste was discovered being dumped into the creek without being reported as required by law.

The city received notice on Jan. 7 from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality that the plant's permit had been violated by the discharge of visible solids and floating grease, the turn-off of critical equipment, and failure to report the noncompliance. Wegrzyn was fired on Jan. 15.

Impairing the operation of a vital public facility is a Class C felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. The pollution charge carries a possible sentence of five years in prison with a fine of no more than $50,000.