March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Man fined for filling Lincolnville wetland> Lamont must pay $2,500, stabilize soils

LINCOLNVILLE — The state Department of Environmental Protection has fined local businessman Walter Lamont for filling a freshwater wetland on his property off Ducktrap Road.

The DEP announced late last month that it had come to terms with Lamont on a remedy for the violation of the Natural Resources Protection Act. Lamont altered approximately 8,300 square feet of forested and scrub-shrub freshwater wetland, according to a notice issued by DEP’s James Cassida. The law prohibits placing more than 4,300 square feet of fill without a permit.

Lamont received an after-the-fact approval for a portion of the fill. About 3,000 square feet of fill had to be removed, according to the DEP.

Lamont took material that was removed from the construction site of the new Ducktrap River bridge and used it as fill in an access road he built on property that he is developing.

The DEP recommended a fine of $2,500 be levied against Lamont in a consent agreement between the two parties, and Lamont agreed to the terms. Lamont was required to stabilize disturbed soils with straw mulch and to allow them to revegetate naturally.

Freshwater wetlands are important, the DEP noted, for their ability to absorb and purify storm water runoff, and for providing a unique wildlife habitat. Changes to the wetlands on Lamont’s property “could have a direct impact on the water quality of the Ducktrap River which is a significant salmon fishery,” Cassida wrote.

Efforts to contact Lamont were unsuccessful.


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