Feds file suit over muddied bay
BOISE – The Idaho Transportation Department and a contractor violated the Clean Water Act at least 170 times as they rebuilt U.S. Highway 95, sending massive amounts of mud into Mica Creek and Lake Coeur d’Alene, the U.S. Justice Department charged Tuesday.
In a complaint filed in federal court, the Justice Department and EPA asked for a court order to bring the construction project south of Coeur d’Alene into compliance with federal laws, plus millions of dollars in penalties – possibly $4 million or more.
“It is hard to imagine more egregious violations,” Ron Kreizenbeck, the EPA’s acting regional administrator in Seattle, said in a press release. Citizens have complained, all levels of government have complained, and penalties have been assessed.”Let’s hope today’s enforcement action gets the attention of ITD, (contractor) Scarsella Brothers, and others who fail to comply with the law.”The project already has prompted a lawsuit from homeowners, who want mud as deep as 10 feet removed from Mica Bay. Boat launches no longer are usable, fishing and aquatic life were impacted, and a long-standing tradition of mail delivery by boat has been canceled by the Postal Service due to shallow, treacherous water, they have complained.
ITD acknowledges water quality violations, but contends most of the mud is being caused by “natural forces.”
Jeff Stratten, ITD spokesman, said, “Protecting Idaho’s environment is one of our highest missions. We comply with all state and federal environmental regulations.”
ITD currently has a “corrective action plan” out for public comment. It calls for removing sediment from specific sections of the South Fork of Mica Creek, reimbursing a dozen homeowners whose water intakes were damaged, and contributing to a project to stabilize the banks of lower Mica Creek and restore adjacent wetlands.
But that plan stops short of removing the massive sediment that’s filled up the bay – a step homeowners are demanding in their lawsuit.
The road construction project has caused multiple mudslides, including one in January 2003 that shut down U.S. 95. The EPA said Tuesday that runoff violated state water quality standards at least 120 times.
In May 2002, the EPA issued a compliance order against ITD and Scarsella Brothers, the Seattle-based contractor, ordering them to cease illegal discharges of pollutants and sediment into waterways.
Mark Ryan, assistant regional counsel for EPA, said, “They made some good efforts to comply, but they still had some violations after they got the order.”
The EPA said the storm water violations at the Mica project are among the worst ever seen at a construction site.
The penalties, which generally are negotiated downward from the initial maximums, are $27,500 per day for each violation between Jan. 31, 1997, and March 15, 2004, and $32,500 per day for violations since March 15, 2004. In this case, that adds up to more than $4 million.
Attorneys for the Scarsella Brothers and the homeowners were unavailable for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Gov. Dirk Kempthorne hadn’t yet seen the complaint Tuesday and wanted to know more, said his press secretary, Mike Journee. “It was our understanding from the ITD that they had taken the measures that they thought necessary to remedy the situation as EPA had pointed it out to them,” Journee said.