Five Year Sentence For Illegal Wastewater Discharge

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — The former owner of a north Louisiana disposal service has been sentenced for illegally dumping untreated wastewater into the Red River and the city of Shreveport's sewer system — and for obstructing an investigation..

The U.S. Justice Department in Washington said Wednesday that 55-year-old John Tuma of Centervile, Texas, was sentenced to five years in prison by U.S. District Judge Tom Stagg. He had been convicted in March.

Tuma was owner and general manager of Arkla Disposal Services Inc. For the dumping and for the obstruction of an Environmental Protection Agency investigation, he was sentenced to five year in prison, three years of supervised release and fined $100,000. The Arkla facility in Shreveport was a treatment facility that received wastewater from industrial processes and oilfield facilities.