RIDEM fines Burrillville man $2,200 for years of discharge of sewage on the ground

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BURRILLVILLE – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management has fined the owner of a multifamily Burrillville home $2,200 for failure to comply with regulations governing wastewater disposal, in a notice of violation that documents sewage being discharged onto the ground on the property for nearly two years.

John Labossiere, the owner of 33 River St., has been ordered to immediately take steps to reduce the discharge sewage from the three-family house and pay the fine within 30 days. If the homeowner fails to comply with the order, additional fines will be levied, with each day out of compliance to constitute a separate offense.

According to a Notice of Violation sent this month, the agency first inspected the property in January of 2021, and observed wastewater being discharged onto the surface of the ground due to failure of the onsite wastewater treatment system. Inspectors also observed, “detection of odors associated with wastewater,” according to the notice. RIDEM notified the homeowner of their intent to enforce compliance with regulations the following month, but reportedly received no response.

As of the date of the violation this month, the owner has not applied to repair the treatment system, according to RIDEM.

Town property records state the three-family home was built in 1972, and purchased by Labossiere in 2018 for $211,500.

The violation orders Labossiere to cease all laundry machine washing in the house, and submit a written proposal for a permanent solution. Any repairs or modifications to the building’s wastewater system require RIDEM approval.

The fines include $1,000 for discharge of wastewater on the ground surface and $1,000 for failure to submit a repair plan, both considered major offenses. Labossiere was charged an additional $200 for the cost of septic system pumping as a means to remove the economic benefit from noncompliance.

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4 COMMENTS

  1. This is ridiculous. The Burrillville Sewer Commission should have public sewers readily available on River St. Public sewers completely surround the entire area around this house. Poor planning on behalf of the Sewer Commission to omit including this street’s installation of public sewers when sewers came through that entire area. They basically left one house out of the circuit. Unreal!

  2. So it takes 11 months to levy a fine for an obvious and ongoing violation? DEM’s enforcement protocol is next to worthless!

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