Source: http://articles.courant.com, November 2, 2012
By: Christopher Hoffman
The developer seeking to build luxury homes on Cedar Mountain agreed in June to pay a $741,000 penalty to resolve more than 600 alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act nationwide.
Toll Brothers, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, allegedly failed over a period of years to control runoff from its construction sites, polluting nearby streams and rivers, according to a June 20 Environmental Protection Agency press release.
The alleged violations were concentrated in Virginia and Maryland, the release says.
“The majority of the alleged violations involve Toll Brothers’ repeated failures to comply with permit requirements at its construction sites, including requirements to install and maintain adequate storm water pollution controls,” the release reads.
The settlement covers 370 sites in 23 states, including 13 in Connecticut, according to the EPA website.
Toll Brothers Vice President John F. Lehane acknowledged a problem in 2009 at a site in Prospect, which he said the company responded to quickly after an EPA inspection.
But Lehane said it was “not accurate” to say there were violations at the 13 Connecticut sites. Toll Brothers voluntarily included the sites in the settlement, he said.
Asked why the company would submit the sites for the settlement if there were no violations, Lehane said, “That goes to the terms of the consent decree, and I can’t really discuss the terms of the consent decree because it is not approved by the judge.”
Lehane characterized the settlement as an agreement to implement an “enhanced compliance program.” As part of a national push to improve compliance, the EPA has reached similar agreements with eight other national homebuilders, he said.
“The consent decree provides for a company-wide compliance program at Toll Brothers Communities,” Lehane said in an email. “It includes management and oversight measures that exceed the environmental protection requirements of ordinary storm water permits. The proposed Newington community will incorporate these enhanced management and oversight measures.”
Toll Brothers is seeking a wetlands permit from the Conservation Commission to construct 48 luxury homes on undeveloped land on Cedar Mountain. Critics packed a public hearing last month to express fears about nearby wetlands and blasting needed to dig basements and utility trenches.
Conservation Commission Chairman Phillip Block said Thursday some speakers at the public hearing referenced the EPA settlement. For the commission to consider the allegations in its decision, critics must submit documentation before the public hearing closes, he said.
“All information properly presented to the commission will be considered,” Block said.
The public hearing remains open and will resume Nov. 13, Block said.
On April 9. 2009, EPA officials checked the Toll Brothers’ construction site at the Regency at Prospect, according to the EPA lawsuit. The inspection revealed the company had failed to implement the erosion and sediment controls required by its state Department of Environmental Protection permit, resulting in sediment discharge into a stream that feeds Beaver Pond Brook, the suit reads.
The company also failed to fix the problem in a timely manner, according to the suit, a statement the company disputed Thursday.
Inclusion of the other 12 Connecticut sites was based on documents instead of site visits, EPA spokesman David Deegan said.
Reached late Thursday, Deegan could not immediately clarify whether the EPA found violations at the sites.
One of the sites covered by the settlement is Newington Ridge in Newington.
Block said he was unfamiliar with the Newington Ridge project and had no knowledge of any storm water issues there.
The settlement requires Toll Brothers to implement a wide-ranging plan to improve compliance with storm water control laws. Measures include:

• Appointing a company-wide storm water compliance manager;
• Designating site- and division-level compliance managers;
• Writing site-specific storm water pollution control plans;
• Conducting pre-construction inspections and reviews;
• Creating a database that generates weekly reports identifying outstanding storm water issues;
• Implementing a storm water training program for Toll Brothers employees and an annual refresher course for storm water compliance managers;
• Implementing a storm water orientation program for contractors;
• Submitting regular compliance reports to EPA.

Other Toll Brothers’ projects in Connecticut covered by the settlement are: Regency at Berlin; Seven Hills Estates in East Hampton; Bethel Meadows in Bethel; The Summit in Bethel; Regency at Newton; Regency at Ridgefield; Vistas at Whitehills in Shelton; Ellington Estates in Ellington; High Meadows Estates in Glastonbury, Glastonbury Heights in Glastonbury and Regency at Bloomfield.
Block said that Toll Brothers’ latest application – the commission rejected its first proposal last year – shows more concern for the environmental issues.
“I think they’re trying,” he said. “Whether they’ve gone far enough to satisfy what needs to be done to satisfy the statutes and the public concerns, we’ll wait for the end of the hearing.”