FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — A landowner along the Aroostook River in Fort Fairfield is participating in a consent agreement with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection after performing earth work last year without a permit or erosion controls.
The Maine DEP has entered into a consent agreement with EPC099 Trust, the owner of a property adjacent to the Aroostook River on South Caribou Road in Fort Fairfield, over unpermitted work done to the land last year.
The trustees of the property, Blair Crawford and Elise Perrault, agreed to pay $1,458 in a civil monetary penalty to the state and restore the site with shrub and tree plantings, according to the consent agreement.
Last year, the DEP received an anonymous complaint about the property. On May 16, 2018, DEP staff visited the site and found that it was being prepared for a construction project with soil displacement and gravel within 45 feet of the river’s high water line.
“There were not erosion and sedimentation controls on the site at the time of the visit,” the report stated. “After further investigation it was determined that EPC099 Trust did not obtain a permit from the department for this work.”
Doing such work in close proximity to a water body without a permit ran afoul of the Natural Resources Protection Act and the Erosion and Sedimentation Control Act, according to the consent decree.
Last year after the site visit, the DEP issued a notice of violations and then developed a restoration plan with the owner that involves removing the gravel fill and planting of trees and shrubs.
As of Aug. 15, 2018, the gravel fill had been removed, and the rest of the planting was slated to be completed by June 15, 2019, according to the agreement.
