Sonoma Co. septic service under scrutiny for improper waste disposal

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- "One call does it all," that's what Carlos Chavez' septic service promises to do on his website, which is still up and running, despite the fact that he's been charged with two dozen crimes.

"They should put him behind bars and lock the key up or fine him big time," said David Briesell of Industrial Carting.

ABC7 News met Briesell while he was properly disposing wastewater at the Laguna Treatment Plant in Santa Rosa.

That is what Chavez should have been doing with the septic waste he collected from customers. But instead, Detective Brandon Matthies with Santa Rosa police's environmental crimes unit says Chavez was illegally dumping the waste on his East Cotati Avenue property in Penngrove.

"He had retrofitted a manhole in the backyard of his private residence and that manhole then discharged to the sewer system on his private residence ultimately linking to the sanitary sewer system," said Matthes.

Based on the hundreds of times Chavez allegedly emptied his tank illegally on his property, Matthies believes he avoided almost $130,000 in fees to this water treatment facility.

"It's going to pollute the ground," Biresell added. "Our kids play in it and our family pays in it and they'll get sick and plus -- it goes into the groundwater."

Chavez was previously convicted in Sonoma County for dumping septic waste illegally. He's currently out on bail and due back in court in May.