Local Developer Agrees to Pay $9,700 in EPA Settlement
By Scott Harper, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Oct. 7–VIRGINIA BEACH — A local developer, Bishard Development Corp., has agreed to pay $9,700 to settle federal environmental violations discovered last year at a Virginia Beach site where the Coastal Walk Condominiums were being built.
According to a settlement released Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, contractors hired by Bishard Development did not follow anti-pollution plans for keeping dirt, mud, oil and debris from washing off the site and tainting a small creek feeding Linkhorn Bay.
The agreement does not say whether any environmental damage resulted from the violations, only that multiple infractions of storm water and sediment-control rules were noted during an August 2004 inspection of the site on Old Virginia Beach Road.
Acting on a complaint, EPA officials found inadequate silt fences that are supposed to block muddy runoff, unprotected piles of dirt, a poorly maintained sediment trap and no proof that required self-inspections had been done, according to the settlement.
Bishard Development has 180 days to pay the $9,700 penalty, which the company will do in six installments, the settlement said.
The company’s president, Steven Bishard, signed the settlement last month. He did not return phone messages seeking comment Wednesday.
The EPA said the company “fully cooperated” and took “prompt action” to comply with the Clean Water Act once the violations were outlined.
Regulating sediment and storm water pollution from construction sites used to fall to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. That changed last year, when the task was shifted to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, as directed by state lawmakers.
The EPA got involved in this case because the federal agency was contacted directly by the complainant. The agency then contacted the state, and the two entities jointly visited the property, officials said.
Sediment can make waterways more shallow and smother aquatic life. Storm water carries such mud to public waters, as well as any fertilizers, oils, chemicals and nutrients on the land. The two pollutants are considered major obstacles to a healthier Chesapeake Bay.
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