The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection fined P. J. Keating Co. $54,150 for wetlands and water quality violations at its property in Dracut.

P. J. Keating, a foreign corporation with a local office in Lunenberg, owns a quarry and hot-mix asphalt batching facility at 2141 Bridge St. in Dracut.

MassDEP inspected the facility in November 2010 and found multiple violations, including significant erosion from its operation, causing siltation into a nearby pond that borders Peppermint Brook. The company had failed to correctly place and maintain erosion controls, allowing sediment from site operations to enter the pond. In addition, a catch basin equipped with a flow divider system was not operated properly, allowing sediment-laden storm water to be directed toward the pond instead of settling lagoons.

The company’s actions caused adverse impacts and alteration to the pond through erosion of 50 linear feet of bank and by siltation impairing 12,000 square feet of land under water. 

Under the terms of a consent order, P. J. Keating agreed to conduct the following measures: implement a plan for wetlands restoration of all impacted resource areas; provide and maintain through diligent inspections adequate erosion controls to prevent sediment from entering the pond and bank; submit for review and approval a new, comprehensive storm water management plan that includes provisions for eliminating untreated storm water from entering the pond; install berms around the pond to intercept runoff; ensure a minimum level of water in the pond; maintain a stockpile management plan; establish a no-work buffer area around the pond; and establish a long-term operation and maintenance plan. 

P. J. Keating also agreed to implement a Supplemental Environmental Project, in which it will undertake to properly redirect nearby street drainage to settling lagoons that are not wetlands resource areas.

If the company fully complies with all terms of the order, MassDEP has agreed to suspend $37,650 of the assessed penalty.