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The Regional Water Board staff and attorneys made some egregious errors of their own in enforcing the case. Picture a serial felon getting released on probation because the police failed to read the accused his Miranda rights. That’s what happened here. Due to administrative errors in how the enforcement mechanisms were structured, the initial recommended fine of $1.65 million was whittled down to $54,500.
Because of the technical mistakes, the Kissel Co. saved over a million dollars in penalties and even more millions in the opportunity cost gained by not upgrading, operating and maintaining a First World wastewater treatment system for a decade. It definitely pays to pollute.
