LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District issued Cease and Desist Orders to Mayor Gahan of the City of New Albany and the city’s contractor on August 13, 2024, for unauthorized and unlawful activity prohibited under the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 and the Clean Water Act. The orders serve as a formal notification directing the parties to cease and desist from further activity and requires the parties begin taking steps directed at restoring the site. The Corps gathered information during a site inspection conducted on August 6, 2024, and from other available sources, demonstrating that work was performed in Silver Creek without required Department of the Army (DA) authorization. The Corps’ investigation found that fill material was discharged into approximately 0.3 acre of Silver Creek at the base of the existing low head dam known as the Providence Mill Dam. The Corps is dedicated to providing strong protection of the Nation’s aquatic environment and navigation capacity, while allowing reasonable development through fair and balanced decisions. Pursuant to its authority under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Division evaluates permit applications and performs compliance and enforcement for essentially all work that occurs in “waters of the United States”. Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, 33 U.S.C. § 403, makes it unlawful to create any obstruction to the navigable capacity of a water of the United States, to build or commence building structures in a water of the United States, and to alter or modify the capacity of a navigable water of the United States, as well as excavate from, fill or in any manner alter or modify the course, location, condition, or capacity of any channel of a navigable water of the United States unless the work has been authorized by a DA permit. The Corps also exercises regulatory jurisdiction over these waters under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under Section 301 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1311, it is unlawful to discharge pollutants, including dredged or fill material, into waters of the United States without prior authorization.
No DA permit was issued to the Mayor, the City of New Albany, or the contractor for the work referenced above. Therefore, the work that has been performed is considered an unlawful and unauthorized activity. In order to resolve these violations of Federal law, the unauthorized fill material must be removed from waters of the U.S. by the responsible parties and the site must be restored to its condition prior to being impacted. However, before commencing any additional work, complete restoration plans for the impacted waters must be submitted to the Corps for review and approval within the next 30 days.
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Release no. 24-113