Company Fined $38,000 for Filling Wetlands in White Lake, North Carolina (NC)
(Atlanta, Ga. – July 19, 2011) Camp
Clearwater Enterprises, Inc. will pay $38,000 for illegally filling
wetlands on its property in White Lake, North Carolina, in
violation of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The impacted
wetlands are adjacent to Colly Creek, a tributary of the Black
River in Bladen County.
“By taking this action, we are sending a
strong message about the importance of protecting wetlands across
the Southeast,” said Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming, EPA Region 4
Regional Administrator. “Wetlands are important, yet
diminishing resources that serve as habitats for critical fish and
wildlife and also help control floods, recharge groundwater and
capture pollutants.”
From approximately March 2009 through May 2010,
Camp Clearwater or those acting on its behalf, illegally discharged
fill material into approximately 0.75 acre of wetlands while using
earth moving machinery to clear a site for commercial development.
Camp Clearwater did not obtain the required CWA Section 404 permit
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prior to performing this
work.
Congress enacted the CWA in 1972 to protect the
nation’s rivers, lakes and stream, as well as some of the
more fragile and vital wetland habitats. Section 404 of the CWA
establishes a program to regulate the
discharge of dredged or fill material into
waters of the United States, including wetlands. Activities in
waters of the United States regulated under this program include
fill for development, water resource projects (such as dams and
levees), infrastructure development (such as highways and airports)
and mining projects. Section 404 requires a permit before dredged
or fill material may be discharged into waters of the United
States, unless the activity is exempt from Section 404 regulation
(e.g. certain farming and forestry activities).
For more information about the CWA Section 404
wetland regulatory authority, visit:
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/reg_authority_pr.pdf
For more information about Wetlands protection
work in the Southeast, visit:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/water/wetlands/index.html