Merced Hospitality Fined $11,990 for Violating Construction Permit Terms and Unlawful Discharges

Following several days of heavy rain in March 2018, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (CCRWQCB) conducted an inspection on March 23 of Merced Hospitality, Inc.’s Lexington Inn & Suites construction site in Scotts Valley. There they found an unauthorized discharge of sediment and other materials to Carbonera Creek.

Carbonera Creek’s beneficial uses include cold freshwater habitat, wildlife habitat, migration of aquatic organisms and fish spawning. The March inspection of Lexington Inn & Suites construction site found stormwater discharges from the construction site and/or land disturbances depositing sediment into the creek and adversely impacting the ability for fish to spawn.

CCRWQCB Staff determined that Merced Hospitality had violated their Construction General Permit by failing to maintain effective erosion, sediment and perimeter control best management practices (BMPs), impairing water quality and threatening harm to wildlife habitat. The greatest threat of these violations is to the fish and their ability to spawn.

In concluding their inspection of the construction site and reviewing all pertinent information the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has fined Merced Hospitality, Inc. $11,990 for violating terms of its permit governing storm water discharges associated with construction and land disturbance activities by allowing sediment to enter a creek near the construction site. The CCRWQCB is responsible for protecting and restoring water quality in the 300-mile-long coastal region from southern San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to the northern part of Ventura County.

Those who engage in harmful and illegal activities will be aggressively pursued and subject to enforcement actions similar to the one issued against Merced Hospitality, Inc. The CCRWQCB is committed to protecting aquatic habitat in streams, thereby ensuring water quality and the health of humans and wildlife. For additional information regarding the General Permit for Storm Water

Discharges Associated with Construction and Land Disturbance Activities, go to: https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/stormwater/docs/construction/pst_cnstrctn071212.pdf.