Lake Ozark admits to dumping sewage illegally

The city of Lake Ozark has admitted to illegally discharging sewage into the Lake of the Ozarks.

The city created a serious public health hazard by repeatedly discharging raw sewage directly into the lake, said U.S. Attorney John Wood.

The guilty plea took place Monday in U.S. District Court, and commits Lake Ozark to upgrade and maintain its wastewater treatment system.

Lake Ozark Mayor Johnnie Franzeskas signed the plea agreement in which the city admitted to repeatedly discharging raw, untreated sewage into the Lake of the Ozarks. The agreement calls for the city to pay a $50,000 fine.

In a related case, Richard L. Sturgeon, 52, of Eldon, the city’s former public works director, pleaded guilty on July 31 to failing to report the discharge of raw sewage into the lake.

The city has a history of overflows or bypass events from its lift stations into the Lake of the Ozarks, Wood said in a news release.

In the most recent incident, Missouri Department of Natural Resources staff found that a lift station was begin bypassed, allowing a discharge of 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of raw sewage into the lake.

A sample analysis of water collected from the Lake of the Ozarks showed elevated levels for ammonia nitrogen and fecal coliform, exceeding the criteria for whole body contact recreation.

 The computerized lift station maintenance log indicates that the pumps were down during August and September 2007.

DNR notified the city of the bypass, and the city stopped the flow, but conducted no clean up.