FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Last month, a state agency issued a “notice of violation” of environmental laws against the developer of the Publix grocery store on U.S. 98 and Parker Road.

The developer of The Shoppes at Fairhope Village, Regency Centers Corp., was cited Sept. 26 by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for four violations or deficiencies under the Alabama Water Pollution Control Act stemming from an August stormwater incident.

According to the ADEM letter, the agency conducted inspections Aug. 8 and Aug. 12, concluding that the following conditions constituted violations of state water pollution control laws:

“1. Appropriate, effective Best Management Practices (BMPs) for the control of pollutants in stormwater run-off have not been fully implemented and regularly maintained to the maximum extent practicable resulting in the potential for uncontrolled discharges of sediment and other pollutants to Fly Creek, a water of the State of Alabama.

2. Sediment accumulation in the sediment basin or other treatment structure appears to be excessive, resulting in the significant potential for noncompliant discharges from reduced treatment/storage capacity.

3. Accumulation of sediment were observed offsite and in State waters downgradient/downstream of stormwater discharge outlets at the facility.

4. Stormwater discharges from the Facility were causing substantial visible contrast in instream turbidity downstream from the facility, causing a violation of State Water Quality Standards for turbidity.”

The ADEM “notice of violation” letter is similar to the one sent Aug. 1 to the developer of the BancorpSouth project at U.S. 98 and Rock Creek Parkway, about a mile north of the Publix site, for a stormwater incident at that site.

The builder of the bank, Gaillard Builders, received two extensions from 30-day deadlines to respond, according to ADEM and a spokesman for the company preparing the required report.

Last week, Gaillard was completing removal of sediment from Rock Creek wetlands and construction of retention and detention ponds to control stormwater, a company representative said. He said they expected to file a report regarding that work soon.

Companies receiving notice of noncompliance must file a report within 30 days of receipt of the letter “showing the steps taken to correct the violations,” as stated in the Sept. 26 letter to Regency and the Aug. 1 letter to Gaillard Builders.

Volkert Environmental Group Inc., filed its report Oct. 13 on behalf of Regency.

“In response to the Notice of Violation (NOV) letter … please find enclosed a copy of the Aug. 8, 2008, stormwater inspection report and Notice of Noncompliance, as well as a copy of the Aug. 13, 2008, stormwater inspection report,” the letter signed by Trent A. Farris, environmental scientist of Volkert & Associates Inc., stated. “During this period of time Regency Centers LLC, and Volkert & Associates worked closely with Mrs. Dana Denson of the Mobile region ADEM office as well as personnel with the City of Fairhope. Issues sited in the NOV have already been addressed and resolved.”

The ADEM letter also included a Construction Site Inspection/Evaluation Report with approximately 50 items to inspect. The overall observations and comments for the site included the following statements:

•Implemented BMPs were not adequate to prevent loss of sediment from site.

•Disturbed slopes exhibited erosion rills and gullies.

•Excessive sediment deposition in sediment basin, in front of silt fences, and in front of berm.

•Silt fencing was installed improperly and/or poorly maintained. Inlet protection was not being maintained.

•Slopes of sediment basin were not adequately stabilized/protected.

• Stockpiled soil not adequately stabilized/protected.

•Berms not adequately stabilized/protected.”

The ADEM report also noted that one of the contractor’s employees (of Summit Industries) stated that the site experienced around 5 inches of rain between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 7 and that they were onsite implementing additional BMPs at 9:30 p.m. that day.

The ADEM letter also stated that “due to the serious nature of these violations, the Department is considering additional enforcement to include civil penalties.”

Two local environmental advocates stated that ADEM has taken a lenient stance regarding civil penalties in situations such as at the Publix and BancorpSouth sites in the past, and that the agency needs to impose penalties more often when violations occur to deter future violations by encouraging better compliance with environmental laws.

The Volkert letter stated that following the stormwater incident, the company developed additional BMP modifications and a corrective action plan.

“Implementation of these corrections began almost immediately and were completed quickly,” the Volkert letter stated. “Another stormwater inspection occurred on Aug. 13, 2008 (following an Aug. 12 stormwater incident), that did not reveal any violations. However, additional modifications to BMPs were initiated and maintenance of existing BMPs were made to improve erosion control and sedimentation control. Since implementation of these corrective measures, there have not been any other violations associated with this site.”