ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say an Asheville farm and its owner have pleaded guilty to illegally discharging cow feces into a tributary of the French Broad River.
A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice says Crowell Farms and its owner, 65-year-old Michael Alexander Crowell pleaded guilty on Wednesday to violations of the Clean Water Act.
U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose said in a statement that Michael Crowell admitted in court that from around November 2015 through December 2015, he had installed bypasses at the farm’s waste lagoons that discharged liquid animal waste into the tributary. Documents showed he told inspectors he was aware that he had done something wrong.
Crowell faces a maximum prison term of three years and fines totaling up to $90,000. A sentencing date has not been set.
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