OCTOBER 6, 2021 - ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLIANCE ORDER ON CONSENT ISSUED:
This AOC pertains to the unauthorized deposition of dredged and/or fill material into jurisdictional waters of the United States while excavating ditches, installing drainage structures, and raising roads. Unauthorized impacts at Pine Hope Plantation include mechanical land clearing, ditching with side cast of dredged and/or fill material, the deposition of fill material on approximately 3 acres of wetlands, and excavation of approximately 1,300 linear feet of Mary Ann Branch ( Discharge Area ), tributary to Bullhead Run which is tributary to Wadboo Creek which
confluences with the Cooper River. Pine Hope Plantation is an approximately 1,300-acre parcel.
On October 16, 2019, the EPA conducted a site inspection on Pine Hope Plantation and confirmed that unpermitted discharges of dredged and/or fill material occurred in waters of the United States. Pine Hope, LLC, is a company duly organized under the laws of the State of South Carolina and, as such, is a person within the definition set forth under Section 502(5) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1362(5). Respondent at all times relevant to this AOC, was the owner and/or operator of Pine Hope Plantation. Section 301(a) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1311(a), prohibits the discharge of pollutants by any person into waters of the United States except in compliance with a permit issued under, interalia, Section 404 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1344. Commencing on or about S