PNJ Headlines: Here’s what’s in the news Wednesday
Accidents, potholes, speeding problems on Sorrento Rd., what people want from East Milton Master Plan, and school supply drives in Wednesday’s news
- Two Santa Rosa developers have been fined for construction activities that allowed pollution to muddy sensitive Mulat Bayou near Milton
- Kip Walker has been ordered to pay $197,250, the largest fine for stormwater noncompliance issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in a decade.
- Both men have also been ordered to take action to restore the bayou.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has ordered developer Kip Walker to pay a fine of $197,250 for actions taken by his company, Hanley Holdings NWFL, that led to pollution of Mulat Bayou off the Avalon Beach subdivision near Milton.
“The proposed penalty for Mr. Walker would be the largest stormwater fine DEP has imposed in the past decade,” DEP spokeswoman Alexandra Kuchta said in an email announcing the proposed fines.
Thomas Cornelison, who was committing environmental violations in the same neighborhood at the same time Walker was, has been ordered to pay the state $67,500.
The fines were ordered within the context of consent orders issued to the two men. Both have 15 days to sign the orders to avoid facing formal enforcement through a notice of violation, the email said.
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) remains committed to enforcing the state’s environmental laws and holding violators accountable,” Kuchta said in the email.
Consent orders were issued July, 2, the day before Cornelison was scheduled to appear in court to face misdemeanor charges for environmental crimes. Both he and Walker were arrested in March at the request of DEP. Walker is not scheduled to appear in court until August.
DEP Santa Rosa County and other environmental protection agencies have been monitoring activities at the Walker construction site on Damon Drive in Avalon Beach and the Cornelison site on Furlong Drive, since becoming aware of violations last November.
Investigators were alerted following a storm that dropped about 2.5 inches of rain in the Milton area caused red clay to run off of both Damon Drive and Furlong Drive and into Mulat Bayou behind the home of resident Art Hauck.
Both Cornelison’s company, Furlong Lots and Development, and Hanley Holdings NWFL Inc. had begun land clearing work in Avalon Beach without installing proper erosion control devices to prevent run off leaving their construction sites. Additionally Walker “cut through a 70-foot right-of-way and brought in fill to fill in a wetlands,” according to Santa Rosa Deputy County Administrator Jared Lowe.
Hanley Holdings NWFL Inc., has been cited by the county for 22 environmental violations and fined $8,966 and Cornelison has paid fines totaling $35,163 for failures to control runoff from the site.
The Northwest Florida Water Management District has also fined Cornelison $21,000 for failing to obtain an Environmental Resource Permit before initiating clearing of his property and also for failing to maintain appropriate erosion controls and adversely impacting a wetland area.
Hanley Holdings has been fined $15,000 by the same agency for violations of the Florida Administrative Code. The company headed by Walker had failed to obtain a required environmental resource permit before initiating development activities.
Stormwater permits for both sites have now been obtained.
Because activities at the two sites caused impacts to Mulat Bayou, the proposed consent orders also include restoration requirements. Walker and Cornelison will have 60 days following execution of the consent order to “assess all drainage paths contributing sediment to the bayou.”
“Once DEP approves the assessment, the parties will have 15 days to submit a restoration plan and 120 days to complete the required work,” the email said.
In addition to complying with permit requirements, the proposed consent orders require both parties to submit a revised Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan within 30 days and to implement the plan immediately upon DEP approval.
The orders also establish penalties ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 for any future turbidity violations.