The charge to which O’Malley pleaded guilty was continued without a finding for 60 days.
SPRINGFIELD - A West Brookfield man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of “unlawful altering of land bordering water” and was ordered to pay $10,000 to the city of Agawam within 60 days.
The Hampden Superior Court criminal case against Joseph O’Malley of West Brookfield dates back to August 2011, when a sewer line was breached in March 2011 and sent 720,000 gallons of raw sewage into Westfield River wetlands known as the Meadows in Agawam.
The charge to which O’Malley pleaded guilty was continued without a finding for 60 days.
O’Malley, who owns Xtreme Paintball at 369 Main St., Agawam, was accused of breaking the sewer line while using an excavator on someone else’s land in an attempt to prevent water from running off onto his nearby business property.
The Hampden District Attorney’s Office dropped two additional charges, discharge of pollutants; and injury to real or personal property.
Court documents submitted by the prosecutor said they were dropped for purposes of arriving at the disposition of the case and because of potential evidentiary problems.