Department of Environment issues enforcement actions

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Samantha Kappalman
samantha.kappalman@maryland.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT ISSUES ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Agency Seeks Penalties, Corrective Actions for Alleged Violations of Land, Air and Water Regulations

BALTIMORE, MD (December 5, 2013) – The Maryland Department of the Environment today announced major enforcement actions in recent months for alleged violations of State and federal environmental laws to protect public health and our land, air, water and wetlands resources.

“The Maryland Department of the Environment’s top priority is to protect public health and our environment. A consistent baseline of enforcement action prevents further pollution and risks to public health,” said MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers. “The majority of Maryland businesses comply with environmental laws. A strong and fair enforcement program protects our investment in the environment as well as the health and quality of life of all Maryland residents.”

Land Pollution Enforcement Actions

Lead Cases

MDE’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program serves as the coordinating agency for statewide efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. Under the 1994 “Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Act,” MDE assures compliance with mandatory requirements for lead risk reduction in rental units built before 1950, maintains a statewide listing of registered and inspected units and provides blood lead surveillance through a registry of test results of all children tested in Maryland. Alleged violations typically involve a failure to register properties or meet lead risk reduction standards. The following actions were for properties alleged to be out of compliance with lead risk reduction standards:

Damian D. Tucker and Pia Tucker – Baltimore City: 4 affected properties – On September 19, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking a combined $43,300 for alleged violations.

D&J Properties, LLC – Westminster, Carroll County: 1 affected property – On September 23, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $16,500 for alleged violations.

DACA Properties, LLC – Baltimore City: 1 affected property – On September 27, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $32,500 for alleged violations.

Daniel Lopez, Jr. (Trustee) – Baltimore, Baltimore County & Baltimore City: 7 affected properties – On September 27, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $27,500 for alleged violations.

Linda Harrell and Roger William Harrell, Sr. – Baltimore, Baltimore County: 1 affected property – On October 9, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking a combined $33,000 for alleged violations.

R&K Real Estate, LLC – Baltimore City: 5 affected properties – On October 9, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $33,000 for alleged violations.

Walter Buck and Gabrielle Buck – Port Deposit, Cecil County: 2 affected properties – On October 10, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $44,000.

Fareed Nassor Hayat – Baltimore City: 9 affected properties – On September 24, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $10,000.

Josef Grewe – Hagerstown, Washington County: 14 affected properties – On October 9, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $17,000 which has been paid in full.

James Pikounis and Kalliope Pikounis – Baltimore, Baltimore County & Baltimore City: 8 affected properties – On October 8, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendants agreed to a penalty of $9,000.

Joyce Eltringham – Dundalk, Baltimore County: 2 affected properties – On October 17, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $44,000 for alleged violations.

Damion Fennoy – Baltimore City: 2 affected properties – On October 22, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $22,000 for alleged violations.

Kenneth Delano and Ryan Delano – Baltimore City: 4 affected properties – On October 24, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $22,000 for alleged violations.

Lara Okoro a.k.a. Lara Wilkinson – Baltimore City: 2 affected properties – On October 24, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $16,500 for alleged violations.

Michael Murray – Hagerstown, Washington County: 2 affected properties – On October 31, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $27,500 for alleged violations.

George Milich and Mary Milich – Baltimore City: 3 affected properties – On November 4, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $38,500 for alleged violations.

Todd M. King – Hagerstown, Washington County: 1 affected property – On November 4, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $38,500 for alleged violations.

Cynthia Lambirth and Calvin Lambirth – Baltimore City: 1 affected property – On November 7, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $5,000 for alleged violations.

William E. Gibson – Havre de Grace, Harford County: 1 affected property – On November 7, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $38,500 for alleged violations.

Breel Investing, Inc. – Myersville, Frederick County and Hagerstown, Washington County: 2 affected properties – On November 12, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Compliant, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $12,500 for alleged violations.

Michael M. Ricker- Hagerstown, Washington County: 3 affected properties – On November 15, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s lead law and seeking $22,000 for alleged violations.

Robert C. Shaffer and Christopher B. Kelley – Baltimore, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City: 15 affected properties – On October 17, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendants agreed to a penalty of $9,000.

Land’s End, LLC – Chestertown, Kent County: 2 affected properties – On October 25, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $5,000. The penalty has been paid in full.

Robert J. Osborne and Richard W. Osborne – Baltimore City: 1 affected property – On October 25, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $5,000. The penalty has been paid in full.

Bruce Bereano – Annapolis, Anne Arundel County: 2 affected properties – On October 30, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $10,000. The penalty has been paid in full.

Seth Sherman; Green Property, LLC; Charter Property, LLC; Pendant Property, LLC; Diligent Property, LLC; and Sherman Property Development, LLC – Baltimore City: 28 affected properties – On November 4, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendants agreed to a penalty of $5,000.

Park Plaza Properties, LLC – Hagerstown, Washington County: 1 affected property – On November 8, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $8,000. The penalty has been paid in full.

Robert St. Cyr – Baltimore City: 3 affected properties – On November 8, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s lead law. The defendant agreed to a penalty of $5,000. The penalty has been paid in full.

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste generators must arrange for shipment of their hazardous waste to a facility permitted to accept it or, with the appropriate permits, treat it themselves. A person who ships hazardous waste off-site must use a hauler certified by MDE and the waste must be accompanied by a document that tracks it from generation to disposal (the hazardous waste manifest). A person must comply with regulations on the storage of the waste and must follow specified procedures to prevent the occurrence of circumstances that would threaten human health or the environment.

Elkton Sparkler Company, Inc. and Hances Point Holding, LLC – North East, Cecil County: On October 1, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty to requiring compliance with Maryland’s Controlled Hazardous Substance laws and seeking a $50,000 for alleged violations.

Solid Waste

Solid waste acceptance facilities must ensure the proper disposal of solid waste in an environmentally acceptable manner while protecting public health and the environment, including surface and groundwater. A Refuse Disposal Permit is required for the installation, alteration, or extension of a solid waste acceptance facility. The Permit regulates the design, construction, operation, and monitoring of such facilities to minimize the impact on public health and the environment. Municipal, rubble, and some industrial waste landfills are required to have liners and leachate collection systems that facilitate the collection of leachate and prevent migration of pollutants out of the landfill to adjacent subsurface soil, groundwater, and surface water. With some exceptions, processing and transfer activities are required to be conducted in an enclosed building to control odor, dust, and noise.
Economy Tree Service, Inc. and The Estate of William Joseph Roy – Queenstown, Queen Anne’s County: On November 7, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint, Order and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s refuse disposal laws and seeking $50,000 for alleged violations.

Oil Control (UST)

The Oil Control Program has highly trained staff to help companies and individuals ensure that their Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) are in compliance with State and federal regulations. All regulated USTs within Maryland are required to be registered through the Underground Storage Tank Notification Program. All USTs storing motor fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel) must meet specific technical standards (corrosion protection, spill/overfill prevention, leak detection and financial responsibility) or be removed from the ground.

Pilot Travel Centers, L.L.C. and Pilot Corporation – Hagerstown, Washington County: On October 7, 2013, MDE issued an Administrative Complaint and Penalty requiring compliance with Maryland’s UST laws and seeking $100,000 for alleged violations.

Midway Enterprises, Inc., Midway Diesel & Gas, Inc., Singh & Gill, Inc., Avtar Singh and Kirandeep Singh – Baltimore City: On September 16, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement and Consent Order to resolve alleged violations of Maryland’s UST laws. The defendants agreed to a penalty of $5,000, which has been paid in full.

Air Pollution Enforcement Actions

MDE’s Air and Radiation Management Administration ensures that all citizens and businesses are meeting the requirements of the federal Clean Air Act as well as Maryland’s air pollution control laws. The Administration oversees air pollution monitoring, planning and control programs to improve and maintain air quality and a radiation control program to protect the public from unnecessary exposure to radiation from medical equipment and other devices, in conformance with federal and state law.

Automated Graphics Systems – Charles County: On October 4, 2013, MDE issued a Notice of Assessed Civil Penalty in the amount of $29,000 to Automated Graphics Systems (AGS) for alleged violations of Maryland’s air quality regulations. AGS allegedly violated air quality requirements by failing to submit its required annual air pollutant emission certification.

Water Pollution Enforcement Actions

State law prohibits the discharge of any pollutant into waters of the State, unless such discharge is in compliance with the terms, conditions, and requirements of a discharge permit. A person must hold a discharge permit issued by MDE before the person may construct, install, modify, extend, alter or operate any facility or disposal system or any other outlet or establishment if its operation could cause or increase the discharge of pollutants into waters of the State.
It is unlawful for any person to introduce soil or sediment into waters of the State or to place soil or sediment in a condition or location where it is likely to be washed into waters of the State. State law requires that, prior to performing construction activity, a person obtain and implement a Soil Conservation District-approved erosion and sediment control plan that must be maintained for the life of the project for any proposed land clearing or earth disturbance greater than 5,000 square feet.
Earth disturbances that exceed one acre are required to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit for Storm water Discharges Associated with Construction Activity from MDE. The NPDES Permit requires that an approved erosion and sediment control plan be obtained and implemented, that self-monitoring inspections occur, and that a log of such inspections be maintained.

State laws require that property owners notify MDE before conducting any work in tidal and nontidal wetlands, their buffers, and waterways of the State. MDE assesses the impact of any work on tidal and nontidal wetlands and, if appropriate, will issue a permit authorizing the work. The regulations governing wetlands were developed to protect the State’s natural resources that depend on those wetlands and minimize impacts while allowing property owners reasonable use of their property.

Michael P. Davidson, 5500 Anderby Hall Road, LLC, Perry Corner, Inc., Green Opportunities Corporation – Caroline County: In a September 19, 2013, Complaint for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief, and Civil Penalties, MDE alleged that the defendants: illegally constructed and operated a recycling facility without first obtaining required permits and approvals; operated an illegal open dump; unlawfully dumped scrap tires; discharged sediment and other pollutants to waters of the State; and altered waterways and nontidal wetlands without first obtaining the required authorizations. On September 20, 2013, the Caroline County Circuit Court granted an MDE motion for a Temporary Restraining Order requiring the defendants to immediately cease solid waste processing, recycling and land-disturbing operations at the facility. On October 15, 2013, the Court entered a Preliminary Injunction agreed to by MDE and the defendants requiring the defendants to implement such interim corrective actions as installing silt fencing and submitting to MDE for review and approval a plan for proper disposal of all waste deposited on the property. A full hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for June 2014.

Simpson Mill LLC – Columbia, Howard County: On October 24, 2013, Simpson Mill LLC paid $11,000 to the Clean Water Fund to settle alleged sediment control and NPDES Construction Stormwater Permit violations that occurred at the Simpson Mill Housing Development construction project located near Columbia. The alleged violations have been corrected.

Terra Works, Inc., Fratz Fill Site – Accident, Garrett County: On October 12, 2013, Terra Works, Inc. paid $5,000 to the Clean Water Fund to settle alleged sediment control violations that occurred at the Fratz Fill site located near Accident. The alleged violations have been corrected.

Darvin Moon and Runner-Up Properties, LLC – Oakland, Garrett County: On October 30, 2013, MDE, Darvin Moon and Runner-Up Properties, LLC executed a Settlement Agreement and Penalty to resolve alleged sediment control and waterway construction violations that occurred during a timber harvest project off Steyer Mine Road near Oakland. The settlement agreement requires payment of $25,000 to the Clean Water Fund. Follow-up inspections by MDE confirmed that the alleged violations have been corrected. The penalty has been paid.

Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works – Severn, Anne Arundel County: On October 16, 2013, the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works paid $15,500 – $12,000 to the Clean Water Fund and $3,500 to the Nontidal Wetlands Compensation Fund – to settle alleged violations that the approved erosion and sediment control plan and the approved nontidal wetlands authorization issued by MDE were not implemented and maintained, causing sediment pollution to waters of the state in a nontidal wetlands and a tributary to the Severn Run at the Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works project at the Cayuga Farms Interceptor, located at Upton Road, Severn.

St. Charles Communities – Waldorf, Charles County : On August 21, 2013, St. Charles Communities paid $10,000 to the Clean Water Fund to settle alleged violations that occurred at four St. Charles Community, LLC sites in Waldorf: Gleneagles North Parcels A-I, Homefield Neighborhood, Gleneagles South and Gleneagles Neighborhood-Parcel Q. The General Discharge Permit for Stormwater Associated with Construction Activity logbook was not maintained for various weeks at the subdivisions.

The Dolben Company, LLC/Chesapeake Ridge Apartments – Cecil County – On October 4, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement with The Dolben Company, Inc. to resolve the unauthorized discharges of sewage from a broken sewer line to waters of the State from November 14-18, 2010. A $25,000 penalty was assessed.

John D. Meck Property – Perryville, Cecil County – On September 26, 2013, MDE entered into a Settlement Agreement with John Meck to resolve alleged sediment control and pollution violations that occurred from July 2007 to March 2008 on a property on Roundhouse Drive in Perryville. A $12,500 penalty was assessed.

Octavia Carter/Carter Paving – Halethorpe, Baltimore County – On October 2, 2013, MDE issued a Penalty Settlement to Octavia Carter to resolve alleged sediment controls and pollution violations that occurred on the Carter Paving Site on Washington Boulevard in Halethorpe from March through June 2013. A $25,000 penalty was assessed.

Fairmount Wastewater Treatment Plant – Somerset County-On September 5, 2013, the Somerset County Sanitary District paid $22,150 to MDE to resolve alleged violations of environmental law that included exceedances of permit effluent limits between February 2007 and May 2012.

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