In August 2022, a plume of orange, silt-laden water covers much of Maryland’s lower Gunpowder River. Aerial photos taken in summer 2023 and 2024 showed similar plumes. (Submitted photo)
Maryland inked a $4.1 million settlement deal with the developer, homebuilder and contractor of a Harford County home development blamed for damaging releases of sediment into the Gunpowder River, the attorney general’s office announced on Tuesday.
Under the deal, the three companies will pay a combined $2 million civil penalty, along with $2.1 million for environmental remediation projects in the affected area, and attorney’s fees.
“These violations were not minor. They were repeated. They were preventable. And they caused real harm to the Gunpowder River and the communities that depend on it,” said Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain in a statement.
The issues began in 2022, when the Gunpowder Riverkeeper and other observers began reporting massive sediment plumes in the Foster Branch and the Gunpowder, near the 121-acre Ridgely’s Reserve housing development in Joppa, and the site of a corresponding new sewer line.
Some of the discharges, the riverkeeper group says, were so large that they were visible from satellite imagery captured from space.
Inspectors from Harford County and from the state inspected the site numerous times, and found that the companies were failing to manage sediment on the construction sites as required by law.
The life of Theaux Le Gardeur, guardian of the Gunpowder River
In August 2024, the nonprofit riverkeeper group, represented by the Chesapeake Legal Alliance, signalled its intent to sue the construction companies, D.R. Horton, Forestar Real Estate Group and Kinsley Construction. But the next month, the state sued the companies in Harford County Circuit Court, and the riverkeeper successfully joined the case as an intervenor.
“This was truly a David versus Goliath fight, with Gunpowder Riverkeeper on one side, and the largest homebuilder in the United States, its subsidiary, and its contractor on the other side,” said Theaux Le Gardeur, who serves as the riverkeeper for the Gunpowder. “Now that this case is settled, Gunpowder Riverkeeper will begin monitoring and tracking the restoration of the tidal Gunpowder River.”
None of the construction companies immediately returned a request for comment Tuesday. Under the settlement, the companies “do not admit any violation of any law or regulation, and expressly deny that they have violated any provision of the State of Maryland’s water pollution control laws.”
According to the settlement, the contractor, Kinsley, will pay the largest share, at $2.2 million, followed by Forestar, the developer, at about $1.5 million. D.R. Horton, the homebuilder, owes the smallest sum, at $410,000.
Construction on the housng project is continuing. Under the settlement agreement, if the companies commit future sediment violations, or fail to monitor the local water quality as required, they will have to pay fees to the tune of several thousand dollars per day, “upon 30 days of written demand” from the Department of the Environment.
“This settlement holds polluters accountable and directs meaningful funding into the communities and waterways that were harmed,” read a statement from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
The $2.1 million bound for local water quality projects will be administered by the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which will conduct a competitive bid for environmental projects focused on water quality, habitat and aquatic resource improvement in the Foster Branch and tidal Gunpowder River watersheds.
The case, said Chesapeake Legal Alliance attorney Patrick DeArmey ”shows the value and essential role of community involvement.”
“This resolution would not have been possible without Gunpowder Riverkeeper and its vigilant supporters impacted by the pollution,” read a news release issued by the alliance and the riverkeeper on Tuesday.
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Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org