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Home My WebLink About20181595 Ver 1_USACE Correspondence-Hollifield_20181213This is a follow-up enforcement letter. Pls send certified to both the Hollifield's and to Syster's addresses. Thank you much. December 13, 2018 Regulatory Division Action ID: SAW-2017-02440 Ms. Patricia Hollifield and Mr. Mark Hollifield 6900 Wild Magnolia Road Wilmington, NC 28411 Dear Ms. and Mr. Hollifield: This letter serves as a follow-up to our January 8, 2018 letter and the subsequent July 25, 2018 meeting between your agent, Mr. David Syster of Southern Environmental Group, Inc, and Mr. Eric Reusch and Ms. Rachel Capito of my staff, concerning the unresolved unauthorized road construction work in over 1.91 acres of jurisdictional wetlands, subject to our permitting authority pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, on your property and within the 30- foot easement in Greenview Ranches Development, Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. On November 21, 2018, our office received a Nationwide Permit application requesting authorization for the entire construction of the road and associated ditches. The estimated road impacts disclosed in the application were 0.48 acres, an approximately 1.1 acre shortfall of our onsite measurements of the total impacts, which includes approximately 0.41 acre of overburden side cast material. Based upon our calculated wetland impacts, our office has determined that this project will not qualify for an after -the -fact Nationwide Permit since the requested acreage exceeds the 1/z acre threshold limit allowable with our Nationwide Permits. Thus, your activity will require an after -the -fact Individual Permit. If it remains your intention to apply for an after -the -fact authorization, the enclosed IP application must be filled out completely and returned to our office by January 2, 2019. Please be aware that, in review of your request, our office must comply with the Clean Water Act Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines, which requires the following: a) avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands through the selection of the least damaging, practicable alternative; b) taking appropriate and practicable steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands; and c) compensating for remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practicable. Pursuant to 40 CFR 230.3(q), "practicable" is defined as "available and capable of being done after taking into consideration cost, existing technology, and logistics in light of the overall project". To enable us to fully evaluate any proposal you may submit, information relating to available alternatives, minimization measures, and mitigation should be included with the application. Please note that our office conducted a wetland functional assessment, using North Carolina Wetland Assessment Method or NC WAM, within the wetlands impacted by your activity and the results of the assessment rated the wetlands as "HIGH" quality in providing wildlife, water quality, and hydrology functions for the surrounding area. This "HIGH" rating will be used in evaluating any request for the road and in determining the compensatory mitigation for any potential authorization. As stated in our January 8, 2018 letter, restoration of all wetlands must be completed by returning all road fill into the excavated ditches back to original elevations and to remove all side cast overburden material (trees, roots, and dirt) from the wetland areas. If you chose not to submit an after -the -fact IP application, all restoration must be initiated immediately and completed by January 12, 2019. If restoration is not initiated or a complete application not submitted within the designed timeframes, our next administrative action is to coordinate with the United States Attorney's Office and/or the United States Environmental Protection Agency to discuss the potential referral of this case for civil prosecution or administrative penalties. Please reference our January 8, 2018 letter notifying you of the potential consequences resulting from failure to resolve the unauthorized activity in a timely manner. If you, or Mr. Syster, have any questions regarding restoration or the submittal of an after - the -fact permit application, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Capito at (910) 251-4487. Sincerely, Scott McLendon Chief, Regulatory Division Wilmington District Copies Furnished: Mr. Thomas G. Walker, U.S. Attorney Eastern District of North Carolina 310 New Bern Avenue Suite 800, Terry Sanford Federal Building & US Courthouse Raleigh, North Carolina 27601-1461 Mr. Chris Parker U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 Atlanta Federal Center Wetlands Enforcement Section 61 Forsyth Street S.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Mr. Chad Coburn NC Division of Water Resources Water Quality Regional Operations Section Wilmington Regional Office 127 Cardinal Drive Extension Wilmington, North Carolina 28405 Mr. Jim Iannucci, PE New Hanover County Engineer 230 Government Center Dr. Suite 110 Wilmington, North Carolina 28403 Mr. Mason Herndon NCDOT Division 3 Environmental Supervisor 5501 Barbados Blvd. Castle Hayne, North Carolina 28429 Mr. David Syster Southern Environmental Group Inc. 5215 South College Road, Suite E Wilmington, North Carolina 28412 Ms. Monica Estell 413 John S. Mosby Drive Wilmington, North Carolina 28412 Mr. Donald and Ms. Dorothy Englehart 4115 Edna Buck Drive Castle Hayne, North Carolina 28429 Ms. Leslie Armstrong 7312 Bright Leaf Road Wilmington, North Carolina 28411-7116 Mr. Tim Esenbock 102 Canterbury Court Greenville, North Carolina 27858-8168 BCF: CESAW-RG/Sugg CESAW-RG/McLendon CESAW-OC/Pruitt