Owner of Brawley firm sentenced to pay $190,000 for underground disposal of sewage.

Kyle Vestermark and his firm, Dunes Edge Storage, was sentenced to pay $190,000 following their pleas of guilty to conspiring to illegally disposal of sewage underground in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, stated a press release on Friday from the Office Of The United States Attorney Southern District of California.

Vestermark, a 46-yearold Long Beach resident, admitted that he and his firm illegally discharged sewage from recreational vehicles stored at the Dunes Edge Storage location in Brawley as well as another location known as Dunes Toy Storage in Holtville without a permit during the period from June of 2004 through April of 2015, stated the press release.

The 46-year-old acknowledged that he and his firm obtained a permit in 2004 for a 10,000 gallon holding tank for the RV sewage at the Dunes Edge location from the Imperial County Public Health Department which specifically prohibited the installation of underground leach lines (an issue which Vestermark had raised during the permitting process).

Vestermark further admitted that he also obtained a Conditional Use Permit from the Imperial County Planning Department in 2005 from the Imperial County Planning Board for the Dunes Toy Storage location in Holtville, which also specifically prohibited the installation of underground leach lines for the disposal of the RV sewage.

The permits required Vestermark to hire a septage firm to pump out the RV sewage from the holding tanks and dispose of it at a wastewater treatment plant. In spite of the specific prohibitions, it was alleged that Vestermark used heavy equipment in 2005 and 2006 to install underground leach lines at both locations which would permit the RV sewage to leach out underground for disposal.

Vestermark admitted that he used heavy equipment himself to install the leach lines and hit the water table when installing the dump station at the Dunes Edge location. The leach lines were removed in 2015 after Vestermark was discovered by Imperial County authorities.

In sentencing the defendant, U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino ordered them to pay a fine of $40,000 and forfeit $150,000 of proceeds from the offense, based on the money saved by the defendants when they didn’t pay for proper disposal.

The defendants were both placed on probation for five years and Kyle Vestermark was placed on home detention for eight months, stated the press release.