A Virginia family farm's attempt to dig drainage ditches ran afoul of EPA regulations. | Mike Linksvayer / Flickr
A Virginia family farm's attempt to dig drainage ditches ran afoul of EPA regulations. | Mike Linksvayer / Flickr
The Pacific Legal Foundation has fought against due process deficits and violations of citizens’ rights, particularly where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is concerned, and it is involved with a Virginia case.
James Boyd and his family own Smith Farm Enterprises in Norfolk, and in 1998 they wanted to dig a series of drainage ditches. They reached out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to learn what was needed and whether they would have to mitigate any issues. They wanted to develop a 300-acre property comprised of farm and forest lands and sought to ensure that they presented plans to the Army Corps of Engineers, invited inspections and heard no concerns from the agency during the work.
In 1999 the Boyds finished their drainage project, and EPA officials inspected less than two days after a hurricane event. In September 2000, the EPA then charged that the owners of the farm had violated the Clean Water Act after the drainage project was completed despite no complaints from the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Boyds were assured by the Army Corps that their project was not problematic and were then required to pay $10,000 in civil penalties, pay for an onsite restoration and give a 330-acre conservation easement on nearby properties.
The due process deficits in this case, as identified by the Pacific Legal Foundation are as follows: the Boyds were subject to overlapping agency authority and demands that were not consistent, and there was no single agency to make decisions. Also, they were told there were no problems but they still had to pay tens of thousands of dollars, including the civil penalty and the cost of an expansive conservation easement that was larger than the property they wanted to develop.
If the EPA had shared concerns with the owners of Smith Farm Enterprises instead of secretly investigating, the owners of the family farm could have done something so they weren’t violating the Clean Water Act, instead of being charged with crimes, according to the Pacific Legal Foundation.
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