Trial Scheduled Against Ex-Ohio Water Plant Operator
SEBRING, Ohio (AP) – A trial is still planned for a fired water plant operator charged with misdemeanors for what authorities say was his failure to notify residents of a northeast Ohio village about lead in their drinking water.
The Vindicator reports that an attorney for 61-year-old James Bates, of Salem, and prosecutors from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office met for a pretrial hearing Thursday at Mahoning County Court in Sebring without a plea agreement being reached.
Bates has pleaded not guilty to three counts of non-compliance with drinking water notification rules at a water treatment plant in Sebring.
Bates came under scrutiny in January 2016 when Sebring schools closed and pregnant women and small children were warned not to drink tap water after high lead levels were detected months earlier.
Related News
From Archive
- Fatal trench collapse halts sewer construction in Massachusetts; two workers hospitalized
- Alaska LNG pipeline could require 7,000 workers at peak construction, developers say
- Ohio trench collapse kills one worker, injures two during pipe installation
- Elon Musk's Boring Co. fined for dumping drilling waste into Vegas sewer system
- $1.4 billion Midwest pipeline expansion to move more Canadian oil to U.S. Gulf
- Glenfarne Alaska LNG targets late-2026 construction start for 807-mile pipeline project
- Fatal trench collapse halts sewer construction in Massachusetts; two workers hospitalized
- Massive water line failure leaves majority of Waterbury without service
- Infrastructure failure releases 100,000 gallons of wastewater in Houston; repairs ongoing
- Pennsylvania American Water launches interactive map to identify, replace lead water service lines

Comments