The Town of Ramapo apparently used a build first approach during construction of the Boulders ballpark in Pomona, NY. The town was charged by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara with repeatedly filling in wetlands surrounding Provident Bank Park in violation of the Clean Water Act.
According to the original 2010 complaint filed against the town in White Plains, Ramapo filled in approximately 1.1 acres of U.S. wetlands during construction of the ballpark on the east side of the stadium along Fireman’s Memorial Drive.
Bill Demarest of Nyack Free Press reported Tuesday that Bharara and Colonel Paul E. Owen, Commander of the New York District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, announced that the “United States has filed and simultaneously entered into a consent decree settling a civil lawsuit against the Town of Ramapo for violations of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) at Provident Bank Park in Pomona.”
“The Town of Ramapo repeatedly violated the laws protecting our Nation’s wetlands,” Bharara said. “Municipalities will be held accountable if they violate our environmental laws.”
Ramapo’s ‘build first, apply for permits after’ doesn’t just apply to private developers http://t.co/RuD7n4jh6J
— Rob (@cleanerz) March 19, 2014
The consent decree will require Ramapo to pay a $125,000 penalty for repeated violations and create some 2 acres of new wetlands to compensate for the filled in wetlands area, including a protective easement to retain the integrity of the created wetlands. Additionally, the agreement involves a period for public comments on the action and additional penalties if the town fails to uphold the consent decree agreement.
It’s not clear if the Army Corps of Engineers inspected the job site prior to approval of the town’s wetlands permit.
Ramapo Town Attorney Michel L. Klein said in a statement that the “conditions” which led to the lawsuit and consent decree were “mistakenly created during the projects construction.”
According to Nyack Free Press, in the consent decree the Town of Ramapo admits and accepts responsibility for the violations, including the following:
- “[T]he Town’s unpermitted discharge of fill material” in 2010 led to a “loss of wetlands that are waters of the United States.”
- “The Town has failed to comply with” the permit issued to it by the Corps of Engineers after its initial violation.
- After applying for the permit, RAMAPO again “illegally discharged fill material” into “wetlands that are waters of the United States.”
- “As a result, the Town is, and since at least June 14, 2011, has been, in violation of the Permit and the CWA.”
