On March 7, 2012, EPA referred the case to DOJ for numerous violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) by the owner and operator of Painted Apron Water Company in his operation, and ultimate abandonment, of the public water system that serves the community of Painted Apron Village, in the town of Deerpark, in Orange County, New York. Alleged violations included failure to monitor for, and report on, certain contaminants and other chemicals, failure to prepare timely and complete monthly operation reports, failure to provide the customers with Consumer Confidence Reports, failure to correct significant deficiencies in the water treatment facilities, exceeding the Maximum Contaminant Level for E.Coli, failure to properly disinfect the water, leaving the system without a certified operator, and failure to provide public notice of the violations. Therefore, the Defendants violated the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (40 C.F.R. Part 141) and the New York State Sanitary Code (Title 10 New York Code Rules and Regulations Part 5 Subpart 5-1) and were in significant violation of state and federal law by providing water that posed an imminent threat and significant risk to public health.
Because the Defendants were unwilling to operate the system, and because no other operator could be legally compelled to do so, the U.S. government team engaged several residents of the Painted Apron Village who had, in response to the abandonment, voluntarily undertaken repairs an