Well it finally happened...
The Arkansas Dept. of Environmental Quality filed a lawsuit against Benny Doyal and his Homeport Land Co. in Baxter County Circuit Court on Aug. 17th.
According to The Baxter Bulletin, Homeport failed to obtain an ADEQ permit, violated state and federal regulations, failed to install erosion control measures and failed to stabilize the site. Not to mention, failing to obey the ADEQ Emergency Order to stop the runoff immediately.
If you have been following this situation, you will know that we had a major rain event on August 11 dropping about 5" of rain at the Overlook site causing all the erosion measures to fail.
According to the ADEQ Field Report many of the silt fences failed, many of the rip rap check dams failed and the remaining ones filled with sediment.
The big dam failed resulting in the contents being discharged into the Norfork River via the tributary.
The northern slopes were highly eroded and virtually all of the hydro-mulch was washed away.
In other words, almost every erosion control devise failed to some extent. It was a disaster of the highest magnitude.
On August 31, Homeport Land Co. filed a response to the suit in which they denied all charges
There was also a report printed in the Baxter Bulletin from Erica Shelby, ADEQ aquatics biologist, reporting on the effects that the runoff from Overlook Estates has had on the Norfork River.
This report covered inspections of the river bottom over several months and was quite revealing.
This report makes it obvious that damage to the river had occurred due to the lack of protection from the runoff but, just how much damage?
Well, according to the ADEQ report, they set up five sample points with the base information coming from just below the Norfork Dam 150 feet above the confluence of the Overlook Tributary.
The report showed that there were 518 organisms found above the confluence and only 276 organisms found below the confluence. A distance of only 150 feet. That is a reduction of 50% which is very abnormal.
As they went down stream to other riffles, they found a reduction of organisms that require burrowing.
The result was that 70 to 80 percent of the aquatic life was scuds. According to Shelby, "There's only one food source. There's no competition. Something is going on." Her comments indicated there are "acute effects" due to sedimentation in the river. She also stated that the effects are chronic and are not known and further study is needed. Shelby plans to take water samples this fall and next spring to determine the effects over a period of time.
The ADEQ lawsuit issued today seeks injunctive relief and money damages for allegedly failing to comply with state law resulting in sediment being discharged via storm water runoff into the North Fork and White rivers and causing pollution.
"The pollution of the waters of the state resulting from the actions and inactions of the defendant...have resulted in damages to the natural resources of the state...,specifically the surface water, fish and biota contained in the North Fork River and White River," the ADEQ alleges in its lawsuit.
Here comes the good part... ADEQ asks the court to grant a temporary and a permanent injunction against Homeport directing that it cease and desist from polluting state waters; that it be ordered to remove pollutants resulting from erosion at the site; that it be ordered to install effective erosion control measures and that it be ordered to pay penalties and costs and pay for damages to the natural resources of the state.
In other words, they are totally responsible for correcting the site and responsible for all costs.
Well, it took a long time coming, but it appears that the ADEQ has stepped up and taken appropriate action. To add to the situation and increase the consequences, Trout Unlimited has also filed a notice to Homeport of their intent to file suit in Federal Court. According to the local radio station, their suit will be considered as a "Secondary Suit."
Many thanks to the AR Chapter of Trout Unlimited for making this happen. There are many other things happening on this issue, but for now, it appears that the situation has finally reached the Court and Punishment Stage.
Hopefully the courts will recognize the damage caused by the irresponsible actions of this developer and will act accordingly.
On a positive note and resulting from this situation at Overlook Estates, the Baxter County Planning Commission is reviewing their subdivision regulations with the intent to strengthen them with more concern to the environmental impact and back up those regulations with stiffer fines and penalties.
Hopefully, the "Automatic Permitting" will be a thing of the past.
One thing for sure, we have the attention of the local developers in the area and are already seeing efforts of their part to secure and abide by the current regulations as it relates to the environment and specifically, the river systems.
Just a word of thanks to all that supported and contributed to these efforts. It is finally paying off.
UPDATE: Also on Sept. 15, ADEQ filed a letter of complaint against Homeport Land citing them for failing to obtain a storm water permit for another project just below the City of Norfork on the White River before beginning construction at the site. An inspector for ADEQ reported on Sept 6 that there was runoff from the new site named Big Bend Estates - another violation. Homeport Land Co. has until Sept. 28 to respond.
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