EPA v. AGRESERVES, INC. D/B/A DESERET CATTLE & TIMBER, and DESERET RANCHES OF NORTH FLORIDA, LLC, - CMU 9

Case summary

AUGUST 13, 2024 - ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLIANCE ORDER ON CONSENT Beginning on or about March 2014 and thereafter, Respondent Deseret Ranches of North Florida, LLC, acquired property in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, and Gulf Counties, Florida, including the Site. Today, the Site is operated by Respondent AgReserves, Inc., for several purposes, including cattle ranching, pine silviculture, and wildlife management. At all times relevant to this AOC, Respondents were the owners and/or operators of the Site. About 2015, to approximately February 2021, Respondents, and/or those acting on behalf of the Respondents, harvested plantation pine from the Site and developed cattle pastures and constructed stock ponds, which are currently used and will continue to be used for ranching. The Respondents? activities within the Discharge Area generally included removing stumps; roller chopping stumps and woody debris on the soil surface; using an agriculture and silviculture disk to prepare the soil surface for planting pasture grasses; planting of pasture grasses, including rolling; digging a number of ditches using v-blade ditching equipment pulled behind a tractor; and constructing stock ponds and side casting the excavated material. These activities resulted in the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into wetlands on the Site and within the Discharge Area without a permit under Section 404 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1344. EPA alleges that Respondents? unauthorized activities in the Discharge Area impacted approximately 3,710.97 acres of wetlands. EPA alleges that the wetlands within the Discharge Area are waters of the United States under Section 502(7) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1362(7) because they have a continuous surface connection to Wetappo Creek, the Intracoastal Waterway, and East Bay, which are traditional navigable waters. The Corps and the EPA conducted joint site inspections with the assistance of Respondents of a portion of the Site to review whether Respondents? unauthorized activities occurred in waters of the United States; to further review whether Respondents? unauthorized activities occurred in waters of the United States; and to collected vegetative cover data. EPA sent Information Request Letters, pursuant to Section 308 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1318, to Respondents requesting information related to Respondents? discharge of dredged/fill material at the Site to assess compliance with the CWA, and the regulations promulgated thereunder at 40 C.F.R. ?232. Respondents? responses to the Information Requests stated that their activities within the Discharge Area began on or about 2015 and ceased approximately February 2021, and generally included removing stumps with excavators; roller chopping of stumps and woody debris on the soil surface; using an agriculture and silviculture disk to prepare the soil surface for planting pasture grasses; planting of pasture grasses, including rolling; digging ditches using v-blade ditching equipment pulled behind a tractor; and excavating cattle stock ponds and side casting the excavated material with excavators. EPA sent Respondents Notices of Violation of the Clean Water Act. At no time during the discharge of dredged and/or fill material into the Discharge Area from approximately 2015, to approximately February 2021, did the Respondents possess a permit under Section 404 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1344, authorizing the discharge of dredged and/or fill material by Respondents. Any discharge by the Respondents of pollutants into navigable waters without the required permit issued under Section 404 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1344, is a violation of Section 301(a) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. 1311(a).

Defendants (3)

• DESERET RANCHES OF NORTH FLORIDA, LLCNamed in settlement
• DESERET CATTLE & TIMBERNamed in settlement
• AGRESERVES, INCNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• DESERET RANCHES OF NORTH FLORIDA, LLC

  6900 HIGHWAY 22, WEWAHITCHKA, FL, 32465

  Registry ID: 110070672109

Statutes cited

• CWA 404 — Permits for Dredge and Fill Material

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• AGRESERVES, INC. D/B/A DESERET CATTLE & TIMBER, and DESERET RANCHES OF NORTH FLORIDA, LLC, - CMU 9entered 2024-08-13

  Primary law: CWA

Timeline (2 milestones)

• 2024-08-13Final Order Issued
• 2024-08-21Enforcement Action Data Entered