PWSA supervisor gets probation for role in dumping sludge in Allegheny River
A former Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority supervisor will serve three years of probation after pleading guilty in federal court to dumping sludge into the Allegheny River.
Glenn Lijewski, of Brookline, worked at the Aspinwall Drinking Water Treatment Plant. He was charged by federal prosecutors with violating the Clean Water Act.
The charge against Lijewski went along with additional cases against PWSA and another former supervisor.
The probationary sentence was part of Lijewski’s plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s office. He pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV in April.
Federal prosecutors said he and other employees and supervisors at PWSA dumped sludge into the river from the Aspinwall treatment facility from 2010 to 2017, sending rust-colored chemicals into the river.
The sludge is generated from the drinking water treatment process and was supposed to be pumped to the ALCOSAN waste treatment facility.
However, prosecutors said the employees at Aspinwall pumped it directly into the river and then submitted falsified written reports to the Environmental Protection Agency.
PWSA pleaded guilty in January 2021 and agreed to pay $500,000 into a self-funded compliance program and serve three years of probation during which the agency is required to submit annual reports and audits to the EPA and Department of Justice.
Another former supervisor who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, James Paprocki of Ross, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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