EPA v. PUGET SOUND BOULDER ROCK ARMORING - MATTHEWS

Case summary

On January 22, 2025, Region 10 issued six Administrative Orders on Consent (AOC) to multiple property owners on Whidbey Island, Island County, to remove and restore a combined total of 420-linear feet of boulder rock armoring in front of existing bulkheads, which was discharged by their contractor, Puget Sound Shoreline LLC, below the high tide line of Admiralty Inlet in Puget Sound without a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit. Hard shoreline rock armoring alters the natural wave velocities, and intertidal flow and circulation patterns, which increases erosion and eliminates natural accretion of beach gravels and sediments. The removal of the boulder rock armoring along the shoreline of Whidbey Island will restore important nearshore habitat, which supports juvenile salmon and other forage fish for feeding, rearing, and/or migration.

Defendants (2)

• KERRY MATTHEWSNamed in complaintNamed in settlement
• LORIN MATTHEWSNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• PUGET SOUND BOULDER ROCK ARMORING

  3686 OCEANSIDE DRIVE, GREENBACK, WA, 98253

  Registry ID: 110071902955

Statutes cited

• CWA 404 — Permits for Dredge and Fill Material

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• PUGET SOUND BOULDER ROCK ARMORING - MATTHEWSentered 2025-01-22

  Primary law: CWA

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2025-01-15Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2025-01-22Final Order Issued
• 2025-01-22Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2025-03-04Enforcement Action Closed