Original post: http://www.indyweekblogs.com/triangulator/2009/10/20/wendell-falls-development-fined-21000-by-epa/comment-page-1/#comment-24196
By: Lisa Sorg
Wendell Falls Development has been fined $21,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency for violating the Clean Water Act, according to an EPA press release issued today.
The financially embattled developer, which owns what was once projected to be the largest subdivision in Wake County—4,000 homes on 1,400 acres—was cited for alleged stormwater-related violations. The violations reportedly occurred at three construction sites, including Wendell Falls Parkway.
Earlier this year, ABC 11 TV reported that Wendell Falls owes the town of Wendell and Wake County $400,000 in delinquent taxes.
Seventeen companies or municipalities throughout the Southeast were penalized from July to September. Lake Glad Commercial, which operates the Highland Trails Commercial Center in Creedmoor, received a $5,000 penalty, also for violations related to stormwater runoff. According to an online property listing, the 249-acre mixed-use development on Highway 56 is for sale for a tidy $7 million.
The town of Rutherfordton was fined $900 for failing to comply with federal requirements in applying biosolids—byproducts from treated wastewater—that can be applied to land as fertilizer. However, if improperly applied or treated, the biosolids can expose people and animals to unsafe levels of bacteria and viruses.
Our Eyes Are On The Water! 
Wow, where to begin? First off, let’s address storm water run-off. It’s caused by impervious surfaces (parking lots, roofs, etc). WalMart is the largest creator of storm water run-off from impervious surfaces created by vacant buildings, new roads, parking lots filled with cars leaking toxic fluids, and big box buildings. WalMart locations are fined daily by EPA. WalMart policies just look at the problem as ‘a cost of doing business.’
DENR/DWQ has a ZERO score on the water quality report card and promotes importation of out-of-state municipal sludge to be used to dilute medical waste, chemotherapy, and biotech waste. We have 1 billion fish killed in Neuse River over 18 years from New Bern, NC Wastewater plant at the intersection of Neuse Blvd & Glenbernie Dr. to prove this point. More importantly, we have Sen. Tony Rand and Bev Perdue funding city owned cancer clinics in Fayetteville to cover up Labcorp, Alamance Medical Center and UNC dumping billions of toxic medical specimens into Burlington and Orange Water Sewer Plants, then spreading sludge.
Fines do not improve water quality. Govs Hunt, Easley, & Perdue have simply over sold NC. Everyone must be rewarded to improve water quality, but only if land owners encouraged through tax credits will improve water quality.
NC HB 1567 “Tax Credit for Innovative Stormwater Controls” was created by Prof. Don Yelton and is the only chance for water quality to be improved in NC. The New Lake Jordan Rules do not even address land application of sludge, the principle threat to water quality worldwide. Also check out HB 1170 “Study on Sludge Application” & HB 1218 “No Sludge Spread on Certain Public Spaces.”
Dale Swiggett
Waterfront Sportsman & the Environmental Investigation Coalition
— water_warrior 20 January 2010