BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — A Massachusetts timber company is facing a lawsuit from the commonwealth over allegations industrial stormwater is draining into the Mill River from its Williamsburg facility.
In a suit filed Oct. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts alleges violations of the Clean Water Act and noncompliance of a federal stormwater permit against the defendant Lashway Lumber Inc. and Lashway Logging Inc.
Massachusetts alleges that Lashway has "discharged industrial stormwater into the Mill River and/or its associated creeks and wetlands without obtaining and complying with a federal stormwater permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in violation of the federal Clean Water Act."
The plaintiff alleges the stormwater contains woody, carbon-based compounds such as logs, sawdust, mulch and other wood matter that has the potential to harm aquatic life.
According to the suit, the Mill River is designated as a Coldwater Fish Resource by the commonwealth and serves as a habitat for rare and endangered species.
The plaintiff seeks an order for Lashway's compliance with the EPA's federal stormwater permit, civil penalties of up to $37,500 per day for Federal Clean Water Act violations and up to $54,833 for violations occurring after Nov. 2, 2015.
The plaintiff is represented by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy and Nora Chorover, special assistant attorney general for the Environmental Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General in Boston.
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts case number 3:19-cv-12135-MGM