More than 300 previously unknown sediment and erosion control violations at the site of a housing development under construction in southeast Durham has prompted Sound Rivers to amend its federal lawsuit against the developer.
The original lawsuit against Clayton Properties Group, Inc., d/b/a Mungo Homes, was filed in September of 2023 by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of environmental organization Sound Rivers— an attempt to stop sediment pollution flowing from the 216-acre housing development into nearby creeks. These creeks, Martin Branch and Hurricane Creek, connect through Lick Creek into Falls Lake, a major drinking-water source for Raleigh and surrounding communities.
“These issues came to light through a public records request and the discovery process,” said Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop. “In that process, we learned about these additional violations, which are all violations of the Clean Water Act.”
The violations listed include sediment flowing off-site, failure to maintain required sediment and erosion control measures and failure to establish ground cover on exposed soil to prevent it from flowing off the construction site and into neighboring waterways.
“These were issues identified on-site by Clayton’s own self-inspections required by their CWA permit, which requires self-inspections, regularly and after certain rainfall events,” Samantha said. “Right now, the site has so much land exposed and not adequately managed that it’s no wonder nearby creeks are suffering.”
In addition to the issues reported by these self-inspections, Durham County sediment and erosion-control inspectors also issued another notice of violation to the developer in December 2024, bringing the total of county-issued NOVs for the Sweetbrier site to three.
“This is a bad actor,” Samantha said. “They continue to be a bad actor and violate the law, and our water-quality sampling data continues to reflect the impacts this site is having on the tributaries of Lick Creek.”
Since 2022, Samantha has been documenting sediment pollution in streams in the Lick Creek watershed. Sediment is the leading cause of water pollution in North Carolina by volume, and is a known threat to aquatic life and habitat. Developers are required to ensure construction activities do not harm water quality for downstream communities, who rely on water sources for a variety of uses including fishing, swimming, boating and drinking-water supplies.
“Ultimately, our goal is to hold this repeat offender responsible by requiring them to clean up their site and pay substantial monetary civil penalties under the Clean Water Act for the damage that they’ve done,” Samantha said.
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This article was first published by Sound Rivers.