Ecology fines company $36,000 for Bellingham project

JARED PABEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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BELLINGHAM - State regulators have fined a local construction company $36,000 for letting muddy water flow off a residential construction site and for failing to get a required permit, according to the state Department of Ecology.

Ecology officials say Greenbriar Construction let turbid stormwater come off its project at 1010 Telegraph Road, where the company has built a road and parking and is preparing to install 15 manufactured homes. Officials said the company didn't get a stormwater construction permit after it took over the project, and it didn't do enough to prevent muddy water.

The water ran into a tributary of Baker Creek, a salmon- and trout-bearing creek. Muddy water can foul fish gills and make it difficult for them to breathe.

"We're just getting up to speed in terms of what the department has alleged. We'll look into it extremely carefully over the next couple of days," said Bob Tull, the attorney working for Greenbriar President David Edelstein. "We know that no one intended for the slightest breach to occur."

Ecology inspector Kurt Baumgarten said he first drove by the site on Dec. 2, 2008, and realized there was about two acres of exposed soil but work wasn't covered by a permit. The previous project owner had a construction stormwater permit, but after a project sells, the new developer must get it transferred. Baumgarten said he didn't see measures taken that were good enough to prevent muddy water coming from off the land.

Officials documented water-quality violations four times over the winter, he said. Greenbriar finally got a permit in May.

Greenbriar can ask Ecology to review the decision or it can appeal to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.