Thursday, May 14, 2015

INWOOD, WEST VIRGINIA COMPANY TO PAY $10K FINE IN STORMWATER QUALITY VIOLATIONS




MAY 7, 2015

MARTINSBURG, W.VA.

An Inwood, W.Va., company has agreed to pay a $10,560 fine for water pollution-control violations at the Cedar Heights subdivision in Berkeley County.

The penalty to be paid by Ayers & Ayers Holding Co. LLC is included in a proposed settlement announced Wednesday by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

A consent order detailing the proposed resolution of the case was signed April 30 by Roger Ayers, according to documents posted online by the DEP.
The settlement is subject to comments received during a 30-day period that ends June 8, the DEP said.

The alleged violations were documented at the partially constructed subdivision near Tabler Station beginning in 2013, the DEP said.

The agency said an inspection on Sept. 23, 2013, found that the company failed to properly stabilize ground that had been disturbed, noting a lack of appropriate mulching and reseeding and a lack of sediment and erosion-control devices in place, the DEP said.

A subsequent inspection in January 2014 found that permanent stabilization had yet to be addressed and the company had allowed a required stormwater permit to expire and didn't apply for another one, records said.

The DEP found violations in June 2014 that were similar to the ones in January 2014, according to the consent order.

For more information about the consent order, call 304-926-0470; write to Chief Inspector, WVDEP/Environmental Enforcement, 601 57th Street S.E., Charleston, WV 25304; or go to www.dep.wv.gov/pio/pages/settlements.