Developer could face EPD fine

A developer associated with a Grovetown subdivision must correct erosion and sediment violations and possibly pay civil penalties, according to an administrative order from Georgia's Environmental Protection Division.

ADVERTISEMENT

Have a thought? Go to the Forums or Chat.

Subscribe  E-mail this story  Write a letter to the Editor  Printer-friendly version  Get news on your PDA  Get e-mail headlines

The order was issued to Joseph Neal, whom the EPD names as the current or former president of Ivy Falls Plantation Co. Inc., and requires correction of problems that include excessive siltation of a detention pond and failure to properly control erosion on land cleared for development.

The division's director, Carol Couch, issued the administrative order after local environmental regulators were unable to compel Mr. Neal to discuss or adopt a negotiated consent order, which is how some regulatory matters are resolved. Without a consent order, the EPD instead issued an administrative order.

The matter has been referred to the Georgia attorney general's office with Dr. Couch's request for a hearing to determine whether Mr. Neal should pay civil penalties. The proposed consent order called for fines totaling $15,500, but the administrative order does not specify a suggested penalty.

Calls to Mr. Neal's office seeking comment Tuesday were not returned.

Ivy Falls has been under scrutiny by state regulators before. In December, two Columbia County developers associated with the subdivision paid fines totaling $18,250 and agreed to correct erosion and sediment violations that damaged a lake at Ivy Falls. Those violations involved failure to control sediment washed from residential construction sites.

Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Thursday, July 29, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle