Bollinger County, Missouri, landowner Michael Zahner, and his company, Zahner Management Company LLC, will pay a $105,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Zahner and his company filled in portions of streams to build two lakes on his property without obtaining the required Clean Water Act permits.
“The illegal filling of streams and other protected water bodies deprives downstream landowners and the public from the use and enjoyment of public waters,” said David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “These acts also impair our nation’s waters through downstream erosion and loss of wildlife habitat.”
In addition to paying the penalty, Zahner also agreed to complete a streambank vegetation restoration project and purchase “mitigation bank” credits at a local stream and wetland reserve.
EPA’s settlement documents allege that Zahner built dams to impound the streams in 2018, impacting approximately 2,963 linear feet of stream channel. EPA attempted to work with Zahner to reach a mutual agreement to resolve the alleged violations. After failing to reach a consensus, EPA filed an administrative complaint in 2022 as well as a compliance order compelling Zahner to come up with a plan to return to compliance.
Under the Clean Water Act, parties are prohibited from discharging fill material into federally protected streams and other water bodies unless they first obtain a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If parties place fill material into water bodies without a permit, the Corps may elect to refer an enforcement case to EPA. The Kansas City, Missouri Corps District referred this case to EPA in December 2019.
