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INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, DEVELOPER CITED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 08/16/2005
Contact Information:

Environmental News
Dale Armstrong
(913) 551-7316
armstrong.dale@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 16, 2005

INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, DEVELOPER CITED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATIONS

EPA Region 7 has cited Hawthorne Development, LLC, of Independence, Mo., for violating the wetlands provisions of the Clean Water Act. The action stemmed from illegal dumping of fill material into a stream without first obtaining the necessary permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Hawthorne violated the Clean Water Act in March 2005, when it placed fill material into a tributary of the Blackwater River near the intersection of Highways 13 and 50 in Warrensburg, Mo., without going through the permitting process. Hawthorne affected 950 feet of stream length when it placed more than 80 cubic yards of fill into the tributary during construction activities for a housing development.

Hawthorne agreed as part of the settlement to perform a one-acre mitigation project at the construction site to compensate for the environmental damage caused by its actions. Hawthorne will also pay a penalty of $60,000 for the violation. The settlement was finalized Aug.11, 2005, following a 30-day public notice and comment period.

Channelizing and filling streams and adjacent wetlands destroys critical habitat for fish and wildlife, causes damaging erosion and stream sedimentation, and increases the risk of flooding.

The Corps of Engineers’ permitting process is designed to protect and preserve the nation’s waters by ensuring that, before wetlands or streams are filled for development, all practicable alternatives are evaluated and lost wetland and stream resources are re-created elsewhere within the watershed.