A Van Buren County man must pay $200,000 and get the dam he had built on his property certified for safety as part of a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approved in federal court last week.
Dan Eoff, the operator of the Chuckwagon Races, hired a contractor to build a dam on his property several years ago without seeking a permit under the federal Clean Water Act, according to court records.
The EPA determined that Eoff's dam violated the Clean Water Act and issued a compliance order in the case on June 10, 2013, asking Eoff to remove the dam and assessing penalties of $37,500 for each day after deadline that the dam had not been removed, court documents said.
Eoff filed a federal lawsuit against the EPA on June 21, 2013, arguing that his property was not subject to the Clean Water Act and that the demands of the compliance order posed an "immense financial expense," according to court documents.
The EPA filed an answer and counterclaim against Eoff, saying the stream on his property -- Branch Hollow -- was subject to the Clean Water Act. The stream has an effect on the South Fork of the Little Red River, the EPA argued.
In the counterclaim, the EPA requested restoration of any environmental damages and civil penalties against Eoff for discharging "pollutants into waters of the United States" without a permit authorized by the Clean Water Act.
After 34 months of back-and-forth in court, the EPA and Eoff filed a proposed settlement in April that went out for public comment in August.
Under the consent decree approved Thursday by U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr., Eoff must pay a $75,250 civil penalty, spend $124,750 worth of stream mitigation credits and have a professional engineer certify the dam's safety.
The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission opposed the consent decree in a public comment filed Aug. 25, arguing that it did not address the requirement that a person constructing a dam get a permit from the commission.
"While an engineer must oversee Mr. Eoff's work to bring this dam into compliance with Arkansas law and rules, determination of compliance rests with ANRC," the commission wrote in a letter signed by Executive Director Bruce Holland.
In his order filed Thursday, Marshall said no public comments raised "serious" objections to the consent decree.
"The necessity of a state permit is, as EPA suggests, beyond the federal issues joined in this case," Marshall wrote. "It's a matter between Eoff and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The Court has presided over the twists and turns in this case for more than three years."
Commission attorneys had argued that Eoff should have sought a permit for the dam because of its size, and noted that the dam is located on a stream that falls under the commission's jurisdiction and that the dam is in a floodway designated by the National Flood Insurance Program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Only two other people filed comments on the consent decree, neither on behalf of any organizations.
Joel R. Ward argued that federal authorities went too far and did not do a complete review of the issues on Eoff's property. Don Richardson, who serves on the Natural Resources Commission board but who submitted his comment as a Clinton resident, asked that the penalties against Eoff be used to clean up sediment in the Little Red River allegedly caused by the dam and for other cleanup efforts.
Metro on 10/03/2016