companies sentenced for clean water violations
at indian ridge development
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two companies were sentenced in federal court today for violating the Clean Water Act in the development of Indian Ridge Resort Community in Branson West, Mo.
Two firms involved in the development of Indian Ridge Resort Community – Indian Ridge Resort, Inc., represented in court by owner and president James E. Shirato, Sr., and North Shore Investments, LLC, represented in court by owner Donald Snider, Jr. – were sentenced in separate appearances before U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith.
The court ordered Indian Ridge Resort to pay a fine of $215,000 and North Shore Investments to pay a fine of $100,000. Both firms received a five-year term of probation and must successfully comply with the provisions of the consent decree entered into with the state, which includes an erosion control and compliance program monitored by the Missouri Environmental and Natural Resources Division to prevent further erosion and discharge of sediment from the Indian Ridge site into Table Rock Lake and its tributaries.
On Nov. 21, 2011, both companies pleaded guilty and admitted that they failed to prevent storm water runoff at the construction site from discharging silt into Table Rock Lake.
Construction activities at the site, including clearing, grading and excavation, disturbed approximately 600 acres of land southeast of Highway 76 and Highway 13 from August 2006 through June 2009. The failure of Indian Ridge Resort and North Shore Investments to abate, control or slow the erosion from the construction site persisted through at least the end of August 2011.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robyn L. McKee. It was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
