Koster orders Great Southern to stop subdivision sewage leak

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has reached an agreement in a Stone County lawsuit, ordering Great Southern Bank and Clear Cove Landing Homeowners Association II to stop raw sewage from flowing into Table Rock Lake.

According to a Feb. 8 news release from the attorney general's office, Great Southern has owned Clear Cove Landing's wastewater treatment facility since 2007, as well as roughly 20 lots in the subdivision near Reeds Spring. Koster said the homeowners association continues to collect payments to operate the treatment facility, but that both organizations have utilized little oversight in operating the facility.

“Missourians have a right to expect that wastewater systems operate in compliance with the law so as to keep pollution out of our state’s irreplaceable natural resources, like Table Rock Lake,” Koster said in the release.

Koster said Great Southern and the homeowners association have agreed to immediately fix the wastewater treatment facility, bringing it up to Clean Water Law standards.

The suit, which was filed simultaneously with a preliminary injunction agreed to by the defendants, also asks the courts for a $10,000 per day civil penalty for each violation of the Clean Water Law; orders the homeowners association to pay $7,904 in unpaid operating fees and late penalties; and requires the defendants to pay attorney fees and court costs, the release said.