TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ A Lawrence man is accused of dumping waste from his fertilizer manufacturing company into the city's sewer system through a toilet.

The U.S. Attorney's Office today charged Raymond Sawyer and his company, MagnaGro International, with unlawful discharge of waste. The charges carry a sentence of up to three years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Prosecutors say EPA agents raided MagnaGro in September 2007 and found Sawyer pumping waste through a hose into a company toilet.

The dumped water came from a waste pit surrounding the fertilizer
mixing vat.

Lawrence officials caught Sawyer dumping industrial waste into the city's sewer system in 2001 and ordered him to stop the practice because it was interfering with the system's operation.