MAY 12, 2023 - ADMINISTATIVE COMPLIANCE ON CONSENT
This AOC pertains to the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into approximately 16.63 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and waters of the United States, ( Discharge Area ) (See Exhibit A). The Discharge Area is located within an approximate 200 acre freshwater Carolina bay east of Ludowici, Long County, Georgia ( Site ) where Respondent conducts peat mining operations. The Site,
known as Goose Pond, is located at latitude 31.727993? N and longitude -81.644658? W (See Exhibit B). Respondent's dredging and/or filling activities within the Discharge Area are related to its peat mining operations and include ditching with side-cast, mechanized land clearing with windrows, and peat material storage in wetlands.
Section 30l(a) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 131l(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 1999, to present, Respondent, and/or those acting on behalf of the Respondent, discharged dredged and/or fill material into jurisdictional waters within the Discharge Area using earth moving machinery including, but not limited to, excavators and bulldozers, during unauthorized activities associated with peat mining. Currently, the unauthorized dredged and/or
fill material remains in waters of the United States.
Respondent's unauthorized activities i