EPA v. Arthur Groff

Case summary

The access for Groff was granted by the Judge back in August/ September 2023. On July 24, 2023, Region 3 sent a judicial referral to DOJ that recommends filing a civil action in the Middle District of Pennsylvania seeking access to perform a CWA 404 inspection of property located in Montour County, PA.  The current owner of the property is Arthur Groff and his company, Mountainside Excavators, Inc. EPA has reason to believe the owners of the property may have violated, and may continue to be violating, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (?CWA?), 33 U.S.C. ? 1344, by illegally discharging dredged or fill material into wetlands and other waters of the United States on the property without first obtaining a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Access to inspect the property is necessary so that EPA can determine the extent of jurisdictional wetlands, unpermitted discharges and deposits of soil and/or other dredged or fill materials into jurisdictional wetlands and other waters on the property, and to determine whether the discharges ongoing. This referral follows an attempted inspection in July 2022 that was cut short after the property owner made threatening statements to the inspectors and physically placed his hand on one of the inspector?s shoulders.

Defendants (2)

• Mountainside Excavators, Inc.Named in complaint
• Arthur GroffNamed in complaint

Facilities (1)

• ARTHUR GROFF/MOUNTAINSIDE EXCAVATORS INC.

  100 MILL ROAD, TURBOTVILLE, PA, 17772

  Registry ID: 110070945359

Statutes cited

• CWA 404 — Permits for Dredge and Fill Material

Timeline (3 milestones)

• 2023-07-24Complaint Filed With Court
• 2023-07-24Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2023-08-29Enforcement Action Data Entered