SACRAMENTO CA (6/15/2020) – Lewis Land Developers agreed to pay a $213,360 fine for violating a construction stormwater general permit at a 122-acre project in Placer County that led to an uncontrolled discharge of sediment and stormwater into a nearby ravine.
The fine includes a $3,360 penalty for allowing stormwater and sediment discharge that threatened aquatic plant and fish habitat. The remaining $210,000 is for failing to implement erosion control best management practices on inactive areas of the construction site. The developer agreed to use $30,000 of the penalty for a supplemental environmental project to train local developers and homebuilders on storm water compliance.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board determined that the developer failed to fulfill requirements of the General Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associated with Construction and Land Disturbance Activities. The alleged violations occurred at the
Independence at Lincoln residential construction project from November 2018 through January 2019. During a rainstorm in January 2019, a levee breach in a storage basin resulted in a discharge of sediment and turbid water into Markham Ravine.
“The developer for this project failed to install required erosion controls prior to rain events and was unable to adequately protect the site once soils got saturated,” said Patrick Pulupa, Executive Officer for the Central Valley Water Board.
Owners of construction sites larger than one acre must enroll in the stormwater permitting program, which among other things, requires hiring a “stormwater professional” to design and install erosion and sediment controls. Discharges of sediment can cloud the receiving water, which reduces the amount of sunlight reaching aquatic plants. These flows can also clog fish gills, smother aquatic habitat and spawning areas, and transport other materials such as nutrients, metals, and oil and grease that can harm aquatic life and habitat.
The Central Valley Water Board is a state agency responsible for protecting water quality and ensuring beneficial uses such as aquatic habitat and human health for 11,350 miles of streams, 579,110 acres of lakes, and the largest contiguous groundwater basin in California. It is the largest of nine regional boards, encompassing 60,000 square miles, or about 40 percent of the state. Thirty-eight of 58 counties are either completely or partially within the Board’s boundaries, formed by the crests of the Sierra Nevada on the east, the Coast Ranges and Klamath Mountains on the west, the Oregon border on the north, and the Tehachapi Mountains on the south.
Contact: Blair Robertson Blair.Robertson@waterboards.ca.gov
