Public Notice: Proposed penalty of $323,081.00 against Boone’s Estates MHC, LLC and Horizon Land Management, LLC
Summary
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 3 is hereby giving notice that it proposes to enter into a Consent Agreement and Final Order (“CAFO”), which commences and concludes an administrative action against Boone’s Estates MHC, LLC (“Boone’s”), located in Lothian, Maryland and Horizon Land Management, LLC (“Horizon”) located in Crofton, Maryland. Boone’s is a manufactured home community located at 1091 Marlboro Road, Lothian, Anne Arundel County, MD 20711. Boone’s has National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit No. MD0050903 to operate its Wastewater Treatment Plant (“WWTP”). Horizon is the property management company that serves as the managing agent for Boone’s and manages the service contract with a third party to operate and manage WWTP at Boone’s. This CAFO alleges that Boone’s and Horizon allegedly violated its 2012 and 2021 NPDES Permits as follows:
- Count I – Effluent Exceedances: From January 2019 through October 2023, the WWTP recorded 194 effluent exceedances for BOD, pH, TSS, Nitrogen and E. coli.
- Count II – Insufficient or Missing Wastewater Capacity and Flow Reporting: Failure to timely submit annual total cumulative flow reports for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, and failure to submit a Wastewater Capacity Management Plan for the 2019 to 2021 timeframe by January 28, 2022.
- Count III – Non-Operational and Malfunctioning Equipment and Infrastructure: Failure to operate the WWTP efficiently to minimize upsets and discharges of excessive pollutants by fixing non-operational or malfunctioning equipment and infrastructure from at least August 27, 2019 to present.
- Count IV – Visible Foam and Scum: Discharge of floating solids and visible foam on December 1, 2020.
- Count V – Failure to Operate Plan Efficiently and Minimize Discharge of Pollutants: Failure to operate the WWTP efficiently to minimize upsets and discharges of excessive pollutants on August 27, 2019, December 9, 2019, December 1, 2020, January 9, 2020, June 11, 2020, and July 21, 2020.
- Count VI – Mishandling of Sludge: failure to ensure that its sewage sludge was utilized in accordance with a valid sewage sludge utilization permit issued by MDE prior to February 21, 2020 before hauling sludge off-site, and mishandling the WWTP’s sewage sludge on at least August 27, 2019, July 21, 2020, and January 3, 2022 is a violation of the Permits.
The CAFO assesses the maximum available administrative penalty under the Clean Water Act for penalties assessed in 2023: Three Hundred Twenty-Three Thousand Eighty-One Dollars ($323,081.00) for the alleged violations under Section 309(g) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1319(g). The penalty is in accordance with EPA’s Interim Clean Water Act Settlement Penalty Policy (1995) and the statutory factors set forth in Section 309(g) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. § 1319(g). This matter has an associated Administrative Order on Consent, EPA Docket No. CWA-03-2024-0006DN which addresses injunctive relief to improve performance of the WWTP.
There are concurrent proposed CAFOs for three other manufactured communities also managed by Horizon Land Management, LLC: Lyons Creek MHC, LLC (Dkt. No. CWA-03-2024-0011); Maryland Manor MHC, LLC (Dkt. No. CWA-03-2024-0012); Patuxent MHC, LLC (Dkt. No. CWA-03-2024-0013).
Notice of this proposed administrative penalty and CAFO was previously posted to EPA’s website from January 23, 2024 to March 4, 2024, but the public notice was missing EPA’s full mailing address. The administrative penalty and CAFO are being re-noticed to cure this error. Any comments received during the previous comment period will be considered in conjunction with any comments received during this current comment period.
Applicants or Respondents
Boone’s Estates, MHC, LLC1091 Marlboro Road
Lothian, MD 20711
United States
2151 Priest Bridge Drive, Suite 7
Crofton, MD 21114
United States
Docket Numbers
- CWA-03-2024-0010