RiverTown developer fined for unacceptable siltation

RiverTown developer fined for unacceptable siltation



TIFFANY PAKKALA
tiffany.pakkala@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 02/13/08


RiverTown developer St. Joe Company faces fees totaling just over $45,000 for silt deposits that leaked into creeks near the Northwest St. Johns County development last fall.

The St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board approved the penalty Tuesday during its regular meeting.

Under the punishment, St. Joe has to pay a settlement of $37,800 in fines and the company must reimburse the district's investigative costs of $704 and the Department of Environmental Protection's investigative costs of $6,617.

The investigation found RiverTown responsible for 12 separate instances of unacceptable siltation near the 4,170-acre development being built off State Road 13 in Switzerland. The waterways, which included Kendall Branch, Orange Grove Branch and Petty Branch, each lead into the St. Johns River.

The violations between mid-September and early October each showed turbidity conditions that exceeded state standards. The normal turbidity level for the waterways should be about 55 nephelometric turbidity units, or NTUs. Investigators found much higher numbers right after heavy storms hit the area. On Oct. 3, the worst day recorded, Orange Grove Branch registered 430 NTUS and Kendall Branch registered 222 NTUs.

Community members were the first to notice the murky waters. They reported it to St. Johns RiverKeeper Neil Armingeon, who then reported it to the district. He was especially concerned because the waterways feed into Hallowes Cove, an important fish, crab and shrimp hatchery. Clogged waterways could smother and kill organisms and plant life and block sunlight, changing the dynamics of the cove, he warned at the time.

St. Joe was required under its environmental resource permit to prevent siltation. According to the district's consent order, the company did take measures to control erosion, however those measures failed during a heavy September storm. The order said the company took "immediate and responsive action" to correct the problem. The controls failed again during a heavy October storm, and again the company took immediate action, the order said.

The consent order gives St. Joe Company 10 days to pay the fines.


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