A seemingly minor lawsuit between the city of Martin and Floyd County government gained significantly higher stakes this week, when the county accused the city of dumping sewage directly into the county’s waterways.
In answer to a lawsuit filed by the city of Martin, the county implicates the city in a number of violations, saying that “The city is believed to be one of, if not the largest, polluter of waterways in the history of Floyd County.”
Specifically, court documents state the city should be stopped from pursuing any “alleged damages,” due to the defense’s assertion the city fraudulently led the county to believe it was incurring costs associated with the treatment of water flowing from the county landfill, when, the county alleges, the city was actually piping the the county’s water and the city’s sewage directly into Beaver Creek.
The county then goes on to say in the court filing, “To date, the city’s operator, the mayor’s step-son, has lost his license to operate a sewage treatment facility plant and additional penalties for the city have been, or are expected to be levied.”
According to Allison Fleck, Public Information Officer with the Division of Water, violations were incurred by the city of Martin over the summer by both the operator and the city.
“As I understand, the entire system is still inoperable, and not treating sewage the way they are legally supposed to,” said County Attorney Keith Bartley.
According to Bartley, the operator was using pumps and hoses to move “black water” — untreated sewage water — straight out of the treatment plant and into Beaver Creek, in addition to three locations where black water was allowed to leak freely.
“If a private individual did what the city is accused of doing, they’d be off to the penitentiary,” Bartley said. He adds that there is a potential for multiple violations of the criminal law to come out of the case before everything is said and done.
The answer was filed after Martin brought a lawsuit against Floyd County for unpaid fees it says are associated with the treatment of water from the county’s landfill at Garth Hollow.
The city of Martin claims the county owes an outstanding balance of $57,0895.55.
Mayor Thomasine Robinson declined to comment.
Martin’s city attorney, Clyde Johnson, reiterated Thursday his client’s claim that the county received services and did not pay for them.
“The county got the service they contracted for, and simply didn’t want to pay for it,” Johnson said.
As to the county’s assertion that Martin is not treating the water, Johnson says it is not true.
“To say that it (the treatment mechanism) was bypassed is simply not true,” said Johnson. “Water was being treated as well as it could and as well as it has been for many years, and the county was well aware of it.”
In the county’s counterclaim, they state the city of Martin has been withholding the county’s garbage collection money. The court filing states that, “In spite of its legal obligation, City (Martin) has failed and refused to turn over to County all monies received in payment for garbage collection services.”
The county claims that the city is indebted to the county $91,000, and in violation of multiple criminal statutes “as a result of its conversion of County’s garbage collection payments to City’s personal use.”
The county is seeking the delinquent garbage collections, as well as punitive damages, “sufficient to punish City (Martin) for its intentional, outrageous and criminal acts.”
After The Floyd County Times received reports from the Division of Water concerning Martin’s water treatment, there appears to be some evidence to corroborate the county’s assertions. These reports will be reported in more detail in next Wednesday’s paper and on www.floydcountytimes.com, as soon as they can be reviewed.
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