Amtrak Charged With Dumping Toilets in Creek
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PALATKA, Fla. — Amtrak trains dumped untreated restroom and other wastes as they passed over a creek, dousing fishermen below, said state officials who charged the rail service with three felony counts of littering.
“It is just unfair for people out enjoying the river to be sprayed with effluent,” Assistant State Atty. Dennis Bayer said.
State officials said Amtrak was charged with dumping wastes as trains crossed trestles at Buffalo Bluff and Rice Creek, a tributary of the St. Johns River.
Commercial littering is a third-degree felony under state law and carries a maximum $5,000 fine.
Federal regulations governing Amtrak supersede state laws governing the discharges from toilets and holding tanks on the trains, Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black contended last week.
“I submit that the alligators in the St. Johns River produce more effluent in the St. Johns River than an occasional Amtrak train,” he said.
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