Utility Fined $500,000 for Unsafe Water

A federal judge has imposed a $500,000 fine on a small privately owned water company in Monterey County in what federal officials are calling the largest such penalty ever.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose ordered the fine May 20 after finding that the Alisal Water Corp. and related companies had for years violated safe drinking water standards. The utility’s water systems serve 28,000 customers in Monterey County, some of whom for months had to boil their water before using it.

The federal government filed a complaint in 1997 alleging that the company submitted false drinking water reports to government regulators. After a 2002 trial, the court appointed a receiver to take over most of the company’s water systems, which will be sold to other water utilities.