By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
The would-be developer of property near Toledo that many hoped would become home to a $70 million regional equestrian center was sentenced this morning for criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, to include four months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.
Philip A. Smith, 53, of Chehalis, pleaded guilty in September to the federal charges related to clearing 98 acres of wetlands without the required permits.
Smith was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma also to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and $20,000 restitution payable to the Environmental Protection Agency for investigative costs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Oesterle said in a written statement Smith undertook the widespread land clearing operation with full knowledge of what was required and deliberately chose to ignore the rules, likely hoping authorities would never discover his violations, or would merely impose limited corrective action and a nominal fine.
Inspectors discovered the activity in October 2007.
“Mr. Smith gambled and lost,” said Tyler Amon, special agent-in-charge for EPA”s criminal investigation division in Seattle said in a news release. “Unfortunately he was destroying valuable forested wetlands in the process.
“We will vigorously peruse and prosecute anyone who unlawfully damages natural resources for personal gain.”
Smith had sought to strike a deal with promoters of what was dubbed the Southwest Regional Equestrian Center and conducted land clearing over a period of two years ending in late 2007 on property he owned off the southeast quadrant of Interstate 5 at the Toledo-Winlock interchange.
He had a permit to log part of the 190 acres he owed, but had no state or federal permit to disturb the wetlands, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Much of the property is covered in wetlands and small streams that drain into Lacamas Creek, which flows into the Cowlitz River and ultimately the Columbia River. Neither Smith or anyone associated with the project ever applied for the required permits, according to the news release.
He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Seattle for allegedly dumping fill material onto wetlands without a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He admitted in September when he pleaded guilty, to excavating wetlands and stream channels and redepositing or discharging the materials into waters of the United States, according to the news release.
The equestrian center deal fell through after he was fined by the state Department of Ecology.
Smith was ordered in early 2008 by the Environmental Protection Agency to restore the disturbed wetland, but did not comply, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A separate civil case has been filed requiring the restoration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Oesterle noted in the news release that Smith had run afoul of the same laws in 1998 on a different parcel of property.
“Mr. Smith miscalculated the government’s interests in this case,” Oesterle wrote in his sentencing memo. “Rather than simply seek voluntary compliance as was sought in 1998, the government pursued criminal sanctions.”
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter