WASHINGTON, Washington County — An ongoing dispute between brothers in southern Utah over water and sewage recently reached a ripe point, and others could no longer turn up their noses.
Washington police were called by a man who co-owns "an undeveloped agricultural field" along with two of his brothers in the area of 200 West and 300 South. The man reported that about five years ago, one of his brothers intentionally damaged a sewer pipe that originated on a second brother's property and would not let the man fix it, according to charging documents.
Officers went to the area in question and found "a large area that appeared to be covered with raw sewage and associated debris. The affected area appeared to be extensive, and the quantity of sewage considerable," the charges state.
When police asked the brother accused of breaking the sewage pipe what was going on, he claimed that because the other man "had blocked agricultural water from flowing downhill through a small canal east of their residences, causing his garden and trees to die … that he intentionally broke (the man's) sewage pipe that crossed his field" and would not allow him to come onto his property to fix it, according to the charges.
Prosecutors noted that "the issue had finally been reported to Washington city now because the odor and sewage buildup had become significant."
The investigation began a little over a year ago. The 79-year-old brother was charged Wednesday in 5th District Court with unlawful discharge of pollutants, a third-degree felony.
