The Georgia Department of Transportation and the Tennessee-based contractor, Wright Brothers, must pay a record $1.5 million fine and spend about $1.3 million on cleanup to settle a federal complaint accusing them of polluting Georgia streams with rocks and soil cast off during roadwork. It is the largest environmental penalty ever against the Georgia DOT, and also one of the largest federal penalties of its kind ever assessed under the Clean Water Act.
The DOT hired Wright Brothers to dispose of rock and soil from 2004 to 2007 from two Georgia highway projects in Rabun County, widening U.S. 76 and U.S. 441. The federal government says that with the DOT's approval, Wright Brothers buried all or part of seven trout streams and rerouted the water through pipes.
The DOT and the Wright Brothers deny any wrongdoing but say they are settling to put years of legal fighting behind them. The money that goes to cleanup may not go directly to the sites concerned in the case. Instead, about $1.3 million will go towards the purchase of mitigation credits.
To read more about the settlement, click here.