Delaney
CONCORD, N.H. (Legal Newsline) - New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney and Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Thomas Burack announced a settlement on Tuesday with a Wakefield-based property owner over alleged wetlands law violations.
The settlement with Gino Tzortzis, which was approved by the Carroll County Superior Court, resolved a civil enforcement action involving alleged violations of state wetlands laws on Tzortzis' property on Great East Lake.
The state alleged that Tzortzis installed a permanent dock, dredged and filled 4,500 square feet of the lake bed and installed a 100-foot-long rock wall on the bed and banks of the lake, all without permits from DES. The state also alleged that Tzortzis failed to comply with an administrative order issued by DES to rectify the violations.
As part of the settlement, Tzortzis must pay a $40,000 civil penalty, $20,000 of which is suspended, provided that Tzortzis removes the remaining rock wall during the fall 2011 drawdown of Great East Lake under the supervision of a qualified wetland consultant as was ordered by the court earlier this summer.
"Wetlands and shorelands are vital in protecting and maintaining the water quality of the state's lakes and rivers," Burack said. "This settlement exemplifies our commitment to protecting these vital natural resources."