Public Notice: Proposed penalty of $323,081.00 against Lyons Creek 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 Lyons Creek MHC, LLC (“Lyons Creek”), located in Lothian, Maryland and Horizon Land Management, LLC (“Horizon”) located in Crofton, Maryland. Lyons Creek is a manufactured home community located at 1007 Lower Pindell Road, Lothian, Anne Arundel County, MD 20711. Lyons Creek has National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit No. MD0053511 to operate its Wastewater Treatment Plant (“WWTP”). Horizon is the property management company that serves as the managing agent for Lyons Creek and manages the service contract with a third party to operate and manage WWTP at Lyons Creek. This CAFO alleges that Lyons Creek and Horizon allegedly violated its NPDES Permit as follows:
- Count I – Effluent Exceedances: From January 2019 through September 2023, the WWTP recorded 50 effluent exceedances for BOD, pH, TSS, DO, 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, and 2021, and failure to submit a Wastewater Capacity Management Plan (“WCMP”) for 2019 and 2020, submitting the 2021 WCMP late, and failing to submit a Wastewater Flow Capacity Report for 2020.
- 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 January 9, 2020 to present.
- Count IV – Visible Foam/Scum in Process and Effluent: Discharge of floating solids and visible foam on December 1, 2020.
- Count V – Unauthorized Discharge Point: Using an unauthorized discharge point on at least December 1, 2020.
- Count VI – 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 December 1, 2020.
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-03-2024-0007DN 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: Boone’s Estates MHC, LLC (Dkt. No. CWA-03-2024-0010); 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
Lyons Creek, MHC, LLC1007 Lower Pindell Road
Lothian, MD 20711
United States
2151 Priest Bridge Drive, Suite 7
Crofton, MD 21114
United States
Docket Numbers
- CWA-03-2024-0011