FAIRHOPE, Ala. — A company, which has received two deadline extensions from the state environmental agency to clean up water pollution in the Rock Creek watershed from a stormwater runoff incident, did not use pervious paving materials in the bank parking lot it constructed, as may have been required by the City Council.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management issued a “notice of violation” Aug. 1 this year against Gaillard Builders, the general contractor of Bancorp South on U.S. 98 at the entrance to the Rock Creek subdivision.

The ADEM letter noted several deficiencies or violations of the Alabama Water Pollution Control Act, including the failure to implement effective Best Management Practices to control stormwater runoff and a “significant accumulation of sediment observed offsite and in state waters downgradient/downstream of stormwater discharge outlets at the facility.”

The company had 30 days from receipt of the notice to submit “a written report prepared … showing the steps that have been taken to correct these violations.”

The company requested an extension from that initial deadline, ADEM spokesperson Scott Hughes said last week but had not filed the report by the new deadline.

Tom Hutchings of EcoSolutions in Daphne, the company hired to prepare the report, said Monday that the company had requested and received another extension when it missed its Oct. 7 deadline.

”We wanted to do this right,” Hutchings said Monday during an interview at the construction site. He said ADEM did not set a deadline for the most recent extension.

The ADEM spokesman could not be reached for comment by press time regarding the terms of the latest extension to file the report.

Hutchings said the removal of sediment from the Rock Creek wetlands began the weekend of Oct. 4, involving about a half-dozen employees using shovels and wheelbarrows to remove the accumulated sediment from the area.

“We’ve removed about 30 cubic yards,” he said.

Hutchings confirmed that he had not filed the report as of Monday, a state holiday, but that he had been working with ADEM staff to coordinate the cleanup and filing of the late report.

While Hutchings spoke and Gaillard Builders project manager Matt Graham watched, a front-end loader filled a dump truck with red clay from a mound on bank property that they said had been hauled from the wetlands during the past week.

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

A review of the site development file at the city’s planning department indicated that the company was to use pervious or permeable materials in part of the bank’s parking lot.

“Approved by the C. Council subject to pervious parking in employer parking area,” stated a handwritten note by Gregg Mims, the city’s planning director, on a June 26 planning department memo regarding the site plan.

That note was apparently written by Mims at the July 9 council meeting.

However, the minutes from that meeting are not as definitive about what the company was required to do regarding pervious pavement.

“Council member (Debbie) Quinn inquired if more pervious surfaces could be used on the site,” the council minutes stated. “Steve Delahunty with Hutchinson, Moore and Rauch LLC stated that they would look into some alternative surfaces.”

Graham, who has been with Gaillard about a year, said that pervious pavement was not used in the parking lot, and he did not believe it was required.

An employee in the planning department said if it is determined that the company was required to use pervious materials, it might be required to dig up the parking lot and replace it with such materials.

It was unclear at press time whether handwritten, contemporaneous notes of the council’s actions or the minutes take precedence regarding any pervious paving requirements.

In Fairhope, council minutes are taken by hand and not recorded on tape or digitally as is done in some cities such as Daphne.

Graham said Gaillard is committed to making sure the cleanup is done adequately but that the site on which the bank is located is “a very difficult site,” referring to runoff from U.S. 98 uphill from the north.

A local environmental advocate said ADEM should take a tougher approach to enforcing environmental laws generally, although she had no specific recent knowledge about the Gaillard Builders construction site.

“That environmental law is meant to protect the community,” said Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper. “ADEM allows companies like this to skirt the deadline and let polluters off the hook. That is a deadline for cleanup. Allowing them to get an extension is a free pass to pollute and is not acceptable.”