Battle Ground’s Hamilton Excavating was fined $136,000 by the Washington Department of Ecology for violating water-quality and Construction Stormwater General Permit conditions during construction of the Highland Terrace Subdivision in La Center.
The fines are in place because the contractor discharged polluted construction stormwater into a tributary of the East Fork Lewis River, according to the department. Hamilton Excavating also didn’t follow several best management practices that were required as part of its Construction Stormwater General Permit.
The state agency said this was done despite the company being offered technical assistance on at least nine separate occasions by the Department of Ecology and the city of La Center.
Over the course of nearly a year, from November 2020 to October 2021, the department’s inspectors detailed seven instances of polluted construction stormwater entering a tributary of the East Fork Lewis River.
The department also noted that the company failed to submit Discharge Monitoring Reports, notify the department of high sediment discharges, establish proper sediment controls and avoid destabilizing soils and channels.
Hamilton Excavating has 30 days to appeal the penalty to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.
