The Environmental Protection Agency has reached a $1 million settlement with a homebuilder that EPA officials say repeatedly violated clean-water laws, with runoff from its construction sites dumping millions of pounds of pollution into the Chesapeake Bay.
Under the proposed settlement, the New Jersey-based home giant Hovnanian will pay cash to the United States, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, and will agree to follow Clean Water Act regulations designed to prevent pollution from storm water runoff.
» $864,000 to federal government
» $67,000 to Maryland
» $59,500 to Virginia
» $8,500 to West Virginia
» $1,000 to D.C.
Source: EPA.gov
The settlement is part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to crack down on polluters, especially in the Chesapeake region.
“Restoring and preserving the Chesapeake Bay is one of EPA’s top priorities, and preventing polluted stormwater from entering the bay watershed is vital to keeping it healthy,” EPA official Peter Silva said in a news release. “This enforcement action will help protect the bay by addressing stormwater pollution at the source.”
The EPA is a scant few weeks away from releasing a report on federal efforts to rebuild the Chesapeake Bay’s environment. The agency says runoff from the region’s cities and suburbs is the only pollutant category that is growing.
Authorities alleged that Hovnanian crews broke the law in 18 states, but more than one-quarter of the 591 building sites singled out by federal officials were in the Chesapeake Bay region. There were 79 sites in Maryland, 70 in Virginia and one in D.C.
Company officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Conservationists said they were heartened to hear of the settlement.
“Sediment and runoff pollution from construction sties is a large and growing problem,” said Chesapeake Bay Foundation executive Roy Hoagland. “The construction industry is one where we have not seen a pattern of enforcement or a pattern of compliance.”
