Mo. AG Sues Businesses Over Wastewater In Lake

CHRIS BLANK

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A restaurant and two condominium developments near the Lake of the Ozarks allowed sewage to be dumped into the popular central Missouri lake, state Attorney General Chris Koster claims in two lawsuits filed Monday.

The lawsuits were filed against Sunset Palms and Royale Palms condominiums and against Shady Gators restaurant and bar. The businesses have their own systems they are supposed to use to treat the wastewater that eventually ends up in the lake.

Water quality at the lake has been a prominent issue this year since revelations that Missouri's environmental agency did not timely report high E. coli results. Since then, the Department of Natural Resources has inspected more than 400 facilities with discharge permits into the lake.

The lawsuit against the condominiums alleges that their wastewater treatment system has cracks in the wall of a holding track, a basin and in a pipe that has allowed untreated or partially treated sewage into the lake. The suit claims that improperly treated wastewater has been allowed to pollute the lake at Sunset Palms since Aug. 9, 2007. Improperly treated water has entered the lake at Royale Palms since Aug. 17, 2006, the suit says.