Lodging of Final (Consent) Judgment Pursuant to the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Lodging of Final (Consent) Judgment Pursuant to the Clean Water

Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act

In accordance with Departmental Policy, 28 CFR 50.7, notice is

hereby given that a Final (Consent) Judgment in United States v.

Westinghouse Communities of Naples, Inc., Civil Action No. 94-234-CIV-

FTM-17D (M.D. Fla.), was lodged with the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida on July 18, 1994.

The proposed Final (Consent) Judgment concerns alleged violations

of sections 301(a) and 404 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. 1311(a)

and 1344, and section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 33

U.S.C. 403, as a result of the discharge of fill material into a tidal

pond and the unauthorized construction of a bulkhead. The Defendant,

Westinghouse Communities of Naples, Inc., was issued a permit by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1981, which authorized the filling of

approximately 76 acres of wetlands as part of a residential development

project. In mitigation, the permit required Defendant to excavate a 5-

acre tidal pond to create a shoreline habitat and it contained an

express condition that no bulkhead or other structures would be allowed

in Clam Bay's system or adjacent wetlands. Defendant subsequently

discharged approximately 7 cubic yards of fill into the 5-acre

mitigation pond in connection with the construction of a 400-foot-long

vertical bulkhead and a portion of the bulkhead was placed over the

fill. Those activities were contrary to the specific terms and

conditions of the 1981 permit and, therefore, constituted violations of

the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act.

The site of the violations is north, east and west of Upper Clam

Bay and south of Vanderbilt Beach Road (SR862) in Sections 32 and 33,

Township 48 South, Range 25 East and Sections 4, 5, 8 and 9, Township

49, South, Range 25 East in Collier County, Florida. The property

contains wetlands adjacent to Upper Clam Bay-Pelican Bay and those

wetlands are waters of the United States as defined in the Clean Water

Act.

The Final (Consent) Judgment requires Westinghouse Communities of

Naples, Inc. to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $15,000 for its

violations of the permit. Under the settlement, the fill material and

the bulkhead will be authorized to remain in place under Nationwide

Permit No. 32.

The Department of Justice will receive written comments relating to

the Final (Consent) Judgment for a period of 30 days from the date of

publication of this notice. Comments should be addressed to Michael A.

Cauley, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Florida, 500 Zack

Street, Suite 400, Tampa, FL 33602, and should refer to United States

v. Westinghouse Communities of Naples, Inc., Civil Action No. 94-234-

CIV-FTM-17D (M.D. Fla.).

The Consent Decree may be examined at the Clerk's Office, United

States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Forty Myers

Division, First and Lee Street, Ft. Myers, Florida 33901.

Lois J. Schiffer,

Acting Assistant Attorney General, Environment & Natural Resources

Division.

[FR Doc. 94-19572 Filed 8-10-94; 8:45 am]

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