DEP: Close Mobile Home Park
MEADVILLE – Butler County Court of Common Pleas has ordered Victor Kennedy, the owner of Kennedy Mobile Home Park in Marion Township, Butler County, to close the property by Jan. 31.
“The mobile home park’s wastewater treatment plant has discharged inadequately treated sewage for a number of years into an unnamed tributary of McMurray Run in the Slippery Rock Creek watershed,” said Department of Environmental Protection Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch. “The department initiated a number of enforcement actions and attempted to work with Mr. Kennedy after attempts to encourage voluntary compliance failed.”
In March 2008, DEP ordered Kennedy to close the wastewater treatment plant by August. Kennedy appealed the order and initially did not comply with it. DEP pursued additional judicial remedies that ultimately resulted in a consent decree—signed by the department, Kennedy and the Butler County Court of Common Pleas—that includes closing the mobile home park by the end of the month.
“The department is determined to bring an end to this saga of disregard for environmental laws,” said Burch. “Since the March order, we have been in contact with Butler County social service agencies to assist park residents in the transition to new housing.”
The consent decree requires Kennedy to:
• Withdraw his appeal of the March 2008 order;
• Ensure that all mobile homes are vacated;
• Disconnect or permanently cap all sewage and water lines; and
• Remove and properly dispose of all sewage from the septic tanks by Feb. 15.
The consent decree also requires Kennedy to pay a $60,500 civil penalty, of which $10,000 has been paid. The remaining $50,500 is to be forgiven upon full-compliance with the decree.
“The mobile home park’s wastewater treatment plant has discharged inadequately treated sewage for a number of years into an unnamed tributary of McMurray Run in the Slippery Rock Creek watershed,” said Department of Environmental Protection Northwest Regional Director Kelly Burch. “The department initiated a number of enforcement actions and attempted to work with Mr. Kennedy after attempts to encourage voluntary compliance failed.”
In March 2008, DEP ordered Kennedy to close the wastewater treatment plant by August. Kennedy appealed the order and initially did not comply with it. DEP pursued additional judicial remedies that ultimately resulted in a consent decree—signed by the department, Kennedy and the Butler County Court of Common Pleas—that includes closing the mobile home park by the end of the month.
“The department is determined to bring an end to this saga of disregard for environmental laws,” said Burch. “Since the March order, we have been in contact with Butler County social service agencies to assist park residents in the transition to new housing.”
The consent decree requires Kennedy to:
• Withdraw his appeal of the March 2008 order;
• Ensure that all mobile homes are vacated;
• Disconnect or permanently cap all sewage and water lines; and
• Remove and properly dispose of all sewage from the septic tanks by Feb. 15.
The consent decree also requires Kennedy to pay a $60,500 civil penalty, of which $10,000 has been paid. The remaining $50,500 is to be forgiven upon full-compliance with the decree.
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