Buda Sewage Overflow

A state environmental agency official says he doesn't fault the Travis Co. Attorney's decision to dismiss sewage-dumping charges against a Buda public works employee, but he does disagree with the rationale.

Paul Sarahan, director of litigation for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, says his agency, through an e-mail, granted Buda permission to dump excess sewage as a temporary solution to an emergency rainfall situation two years ago. Based on that information, however, County Attorney Ken Oden moved to drop charges against Everett Conner, director of public works for the city of Buda, who had faced criminal misdemeanor charges for dumping excess raw sewage into an overflow pond during heavy rains or when mechanical problems plagued the city's beleaguered water and waste facility. If convicted, Conner faced penalties of up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.

Sarahan said the e-mail was in response to the city of Buda's question about how to handle excess sewage during the heavy rains of October 2000. "We authorized them in that one instance to put [the sewage] into a holding pond, to be treated later," Sarahan said. The litigation director provided a copy of the e-mail in question, in which the last line states: "This is a temporary solution and is not a confirmation ... for storage year-round without a major amendment to your wastewater permit."

"They're fully within their right to dismiss the case if they feel they can't make the case stand," Sarahan continued. "But they made it seem like the [e-mail] was the reason for dismissal."

According to one source, Buda officials just want to put the matter behind them. The city has paid through the nose (by small-town standards) in civil penalties for pollution violations and remediation fees to clean up a private lake contaminated by the sludge. Meanwhile, Conner was placed on temporary administrative leave, but later reinstated. City officials say he had performed well in all other aspects of his job. However, the city is taking no chances on its wastewater plant, which has since doubled its sewage capacity and is operated by the Guadalupe-Brazos River Authority.