Lawyer Sanders says Judge Forester rejects proposed consent decree between Lexington and U.S. EPA for Clean Water Act violations.

On August 7, 2008, U.S. District Judge Karl Forester rejected a proposed consent decree that settled Clean Water Act violations by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The federal judge rejected the consent decree because he thought the $425,000 civil penalty was too high and that more of that money should be spent on remedial work required by the consent decree reached in February.

In his two page order, Judge Forester said current Fayette County residents “should not be severely penalized for long-standing neglect” by local agency officials. He ordered the two parties to renegotiate the penalty.The rejected decree required the city to spend $250 million to $300 million during the next dozen years to fix many long-standing problems that result in untreated sewage being sent into creeks, yards and basements. U.S. EPA had sued the city in November 2006, charging violations of the Clean Water Act.