Original builders of Liberty Village to pay $1.3M to settle violations

The original builders behind the construction of Liberty Village on Candlers Mountain Road will pay more than $1.3 million to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and of permit restrictions between 2001 and 2003 at the site.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that five defendants will pay a $300,000 penalty and fund more than $1 million in stream and wetlands restoration work.

The justice department filed the settlement Wednesday on behalf of the EPA as part of a consent decree in the Western District of Virginia.

The defendants — who are not related to the property’s current owner, a subsidiary of Liberty University — are listed in a Department of Justice news release as Savoy Senior Housing Corporation, Savoy Liberty Village LLC, SDB Construction Inc., Best G.C. Inc. and Acres of Virginia Inc.

Liberty Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said Wednesday that Thomas Road Baptist Church Ministries had been affiliated with marketing the property on the “Old Time Gospel Hour.” In exchange, TRBC Ministries was to receive 2.5 percent of the revenues from its sale, or 10 percent of the profits, whichever was greater.

But that was a limited partnership, Falwell said, which meant that TRBC Ministries had no liability.

“Originally I remember eight, nine years ago, they wanted us to be partners in (building) it and we said no,” Falwell said. “That’s one of the best decisions we ever made, I think.”

In 2006, the college bought the property out of bankruptcy, “cleaned it up a lot” and changed its name to Liberty Ridge, Falwell said. It now houses married and graduate students.

According to the justice department news release, “The consent decree would resolve allegations that the defendants discharged and/or controlled and directed the discharge of pollutants including dredged and/or fill material, sediment, and other pollutants carried by stormwater into waters of the United States during the construction of a housing development without required permits, and then in violation of the stormwater permit after one was obtained.

“Specifically, the defendants allegedly buried existing streams on the site and filled wetlands that formed the headwaters of one of the filled streams. Silt and sediment from the construction activities were also discharged into streams on and off the site and flowed downstream to Pine Lake and beyond.

“As the result of defendants’ actions, water now flows downstream faster and at a higher temperature, killing or stressing aquatic animals and plants.”

Falwell said the school will oversee any on-site restoration work.

“We want to make sure that they don’t mess it up again,” he said.

About $250,000 of the settlement will go toward on-site “restoration of one stream, restoration and enhancement of four ponds, installation of plantings, and eradication of invasive species in certain areas,” according to the news release.

Additionally, the defendants will pay about $825,000 toward funding other stream and wetlands restoration projects in the area.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval, according to the release.

A copy of the consent decree is available on the Department of Justice Web site at: www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html