A septic company owner has been arrested as he faces allegations of dumping waste into Stamford city sewers to avoid disposal fees, police said.
Stright Septic owner Robert Aillery, 58, of Stamford, turned himself into police on Thursday following an investigation stemming from Stamford Water Pollution Control Authority's May of 2013 complaint that spanned a year and a half.
He is accused of "depriving" Stamford's Water Pollution Control Authority of income by dumping waste from his customers' septic systems into the city's sewer system so that he wouldn't have to pay them disposal fees, according to the arrest warrant.
WPCA-installed meters measured sewage flowing from his 84 Knickerbocker home and investigators found a hose during a search of the property with one end connected to a septic truck valve and the other leading to a city sewer drain, police said.
Neighbors complained of smelling a foul stench in the air and "raw sewage" seeping into some homes, police said.
Stamford police charged Aillery with three counts of first-degree larceny and are held him in custody on a $150,000 court-set bond before he appeared in court Thursday morning.
The WPCA's regulatory compliance officer assisted with the investigation.
The Chief State's Attorney's Office's Environmental Crime Unit is prosecuting the case.
