The notices were for allegedly illegally "caused conditions not allowable in waters of the State by allowing sediment deposits on the bottom of the stream," as well as allegedly "allowed sediment-laden water to leave the site without going through an appropriate device," and "failed to seed and stabilize all temporary diversions immediately and prior to becoming functional," as well as allegedly "failed to post an outlet marker at all permitted outlets from the construction site," as well as allegedly "failed to retain a copy of the SWPPP and GPP on site."
PutnamLIVE.com obtained the Notices of Violation through a Freedom of Information Act Request submitted to the Teays Valley DEP office in Liberty Plaza.
Perry Casto of the DEP issued the notices on October 3rd. They were signed by Hudson Construction Company Superintendent William "Bill" Gravett. Wal-Mart stores is listed as the Permittee. Casto was not available for comment when PutnamLIVE.com called his office. Eileen Nelson, of the DEP, who provided the Notices of Violations to PutnamLIVE.com says she does not know how much, if any, Hudson will be fined.
Almost as soon was dry on those violations, Wal-Mart fired Hudson and replaced the contractor with Cleveland Construction of Mentor, Ohio. The DEP says Cleveland has not been given any Notices of Violation.
"We take our environmental responsibility very seriously," says Patrick Hamilton of Wal-Mart. "As soon as we learned of the notices we took action. We do not tolerate environmental violations."
Reached by his cell phone number listed on the Notices of Violations, Gravett declined to comment about the situation, referring PutnamLIVE.com's inquiries to a Sheridan Ames of Hudson at their corporate office in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our call to Ames seeking comment has not been returned.
Work continues on the site this week by Cleveland Construction. According to Vice President Keith Ziglar, the 184,000 square-foot store will be completed in September of 2007.
