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Septic Hauler Sentenced to Five Months in Prison for Illegal Dumping in Virginia

Release Date: 8/17/2001
Contact Information: Donna Heron 215-814-5113

Contact: Donna Heron 215-814-5113

PHILADELPHIA – A Virginia man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court for discharging raw sewage into a tributary of the Potomac River and discharging pollutants into the Prince William County sanitary sewer system.

On May 14, Ricky Ray Aits, field superintendent for AITS Septic Service, Inc. of Manassas, Va., pleaded guilty in the Eastern District Court of Virginia in Alexandria to a two-count criminal information charging him with violating the federal Clean Water Act.

Today he was sentenced by Judge T.S. Ellis III to five months in prison, five months of community confinement, three years’ probation, and ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.

Count one charged Aits with discharging raw sewage into a tributary of the Potomac River in Prince William County. Count two charged him with the unlawful discharge of pollutants into the Prince William County sanitary sewer system.

The investigation into the disposal practices of Aits Septic Service began on May 2, 2000, when students and administrators at the Osborne Park High School, Manassas, Va., detected the strong odor of raw sewage near the soccer field during a game. Eyewitnesses observed an AITS septic truck apparently discharging into a storm sewer located in the school’s parking lot. A school surveillance camera also recorded the incident on video tape.

The sewage discharged by Aits ran through the parking lot storm sewer to a nearby creek, which is a tributary of the Potomac River. A subsequent cleanup was conducted under the supervision of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. The criminal investigation later revealed that Ricky Aits had illegally discharged raw sewage and other pollutants at this unpermitted location and others including a sanitary sewer manhole behind the IKEA store at Potomac Mills Mall and a sanitary sewer manhole behind the Shoppers Food Warehouse at Maplewood Shopping Center, Manassas, Va.

The convictions resulted from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in Arlington, Va, the FBI’s Washington field office, and the Prince William County Police Department.

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