EPA Resolves Damages to Utah Wetlands

The U.S. EPA has reached an agreement with the Saratoga Springs Owners Assn. Inc. and Cross Marine Projects Inc. resolving alleged unpermitted dredge and fill activities and damages to wetlands at a Utah Lake marina facility in Utah County, Utah. Under the terms of a consent decree in the Federal District Court of Utah, the defendants will restore and enhance more than 7 acres of wetlands and pay a civil penalty of $150,000.

In December 2017, the U.S. filed a complaint against the Saratoga Springs Owners Assn. and Cross Marine Projects for damages associated with alleged illegal dredge and fill activity. EPA asserts that between September 2013 and February 2014, the Saratoga Springs Owners Association and Cross Marine Projects dredged a marina access channel and discharged the resulting fill material into Utah Lake and adjacent wetlands without a Clean Water Act permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The resulting consent decree requires the Defendants to pay a civil penalty of $150,000 and to restore an approximately 0.37-acre wetland and enhance an additional 7.0 acres of wetlands adjacent to Utah Lake. The restoration plan also includes reporting requirements and success criteria.

Utah Lake is a water of the U.S. and is habitat for projects associated with an Endangered Fish Recovery Program, established in 1999, to protect the June Sucker, a fish that naturally occurs only in Utah Lake and spawns only in the lower Provo River. The rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands in the area are important as habitat for fish and wildlife, water storage, water quality enhancement, flood control, and aesthetics. The State of Utah has designated Utah Lake as impaired for its failure to meet water quality standards.