Attorney General's News Release

December 10, 2009

Attorney General Koster sues Columbia developer for clean water violations

--Lawsuit charges 5 counts of environmental violations--

Jefferson City, Mo. - Attorney General Chris Koster has filed a lawsuit in Boone County against a Columbia development company for polluting a stream adjacent to a residential housing development.

Koster said the lawsuit charges Garth Coleman Builders, Inc, developer of a 31-acre residential subdivision known as Kinkade Crossing in Columbia, Missouri, with violations of Missouri's Clean Water Law.

Koster said inspections by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) showed the company allowed water contaminants to run off into a tributary of Rocky Fork Creek, which runs near the Kinkade Crossing subdivision. He said MDNR inspections also showed that Garth Coleman Builders had not put erosion control structures or Best Management Practices in place at the development. The company also operated a water contaminant source without a permit and failed to post a public notification sign at the main entrance of the site, as required by law.

"Every developer in our state is obligated to ensure the environmental integrity of their development sites," Koster said. "This office will aggressively pursue any developers who show disregard for our environmental laws."

Koster is asking the court to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions requiring Garth Coleman Builders, Inc., to comply with the Clean Water Law; to assess a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 per day for each violation of the Clean Water Law; and to require the defendants to pay all costs associated with the case.