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Baxter pays fines to MPCA Local contractor also fined for violations on city project Staff Writer BAXTER - The city of Baxter and Tom's Backhoe Service Inc. of Brainerd have paid the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency a combined civil penalty of $20,000 for alleged stormwater violations.
The violations occurred at the Cedar Scenic Road water and sewer project in Baxter, the MPCA said in a news release.
Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District staff performed inspections from May through October of 2007. The MPCA said inspections revealed several stormwater violations during water and sewer line installation at a 13.7-acre site in Baxter's Cedar Scenic Road area.
Violations included failing to maintain proper silt fencing, failing to stabilize ditches and ditch banks and failing to properly dissipate dewatering outlets. These violations resulted in excess erosion and allowed sediment-laden stormwater to discharge into area wetlands.
Tom Thompson, owner of Tom's Backhoe, said the project was done and the permit with the MPCA closed out when the MPCA came back with a notice of citation and a fine.
Thompson said he was never informed of the violations while working on the project
"It took us by surprise," Thompson said. "They came to us and said, 'You violated this and you violated that,' and we said, "No, we didn't violate anything.'"
Thompson said the silt fence was put where it was supposed to be per the direction of Widseth Smith Nolting, the city's engineering consultant. Because of that, Thompson said the silt fence was the city's liability.
As for the dewatering issue, Thompson said his dewatering business has been discharging into wetlands for 50 years and never been questioned and it wasn't until this issue that the MPCA informed him that it violated state statute.
Thompson negotiated the fine from $38,100 to $20,000 but said Baxter officials have informed him the city will not be paying for $10,000 he believes the city is liable for. Thompson said he plans on filing a lawsuit against Baxter for its share of the fine.
"Right now, I'm paying for all of it," Thompson said.
While Thompson appealed the fine, Baxter withheld a $38,100 payment to Tom's Backhoe in anticipation of the fine. When the fine was lowered, the city paid the MPCA $20,000 out of the retained money and paid the rest to Tom's Backhoe, Public Works Director Trevor Walter said.
Walter said Thompson bid $500 to be the erosion control supervisor on the project and therefore was fully responsible for following the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit required by the MPCA.
Walter said the city is in the right concerning how it handled the fine and its payment to Tom's Backhoe. He said the city and WSN gave Tom's Backhoe several notifications of what needed to be corrected concerning the permit, both verbally and in writing and all of which has been documented by the city and WSN.
"As far as we're concerned, he was 100 percent responsible for it," Walter said. "As far as the city is concerned, the contract is finalized and done."
Walter said the city understands Thompson may sue the city to recover all or a portion of the $20,000 withheld and used to pay the MPCA fine. He said the city would deal with that issue when it had to.
Minnesota law requires businesses and contractors to apply for a stormwater permit when construction projects disturb more than one acre of soil. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first-time or repeat violation and how promptly the violation was reported to appropriate authorities. It also attempts to recover the calculated economic benefit gained by failure to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.
Walter noted the fine was as large as it was because Tom's Backhoe had a previous violation with the MPCA.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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