Developer fined $17,000 for wetland violation

The Washington Department of Ecology has fined a Vancouver developer $17,000 for not permanently preserving wetland mitigation sites. But the business owner facing the penalty said he’s confident the fine will be dropped.

Ecology fined Dennis Pavlina for what the agency said was his and his former company’s, Gold Medal Group, failure to provide a valid conservation covenant that permanently protects properties he was required to mitigate.

“As construction booms across Clark County, the majority of developers follow local and state rules that protect watersheds,” Gordon White, program manager for Ecology’s Shorelands and Environmental Assistance program, said in a news release. “Mr. Pavlina has had a more than reasonable time frame to fulfill his obligation and legal requirements related to this business park.”

Pavlina said he did meet his obligations and he’s confident he’ll prevail when he appeals to the state’s Pollution Control Hearings Board.

“They say we did not have a covenant in place to protect the land in perpetuity,” Pavlina said. “We actually do. It was recorded three years ago.”

The issue traces back to 2005 when Pavlina and his company began to build the Battle Ground Village business park. Pavlina started to illegally grade and fill 37 acres of wetlands in the Salmon Creek watershed.

Two years later, Ecology ordered Pavlina to re-establish five acres of wetland, acquire and preserve eight acres of forested wetland and restore 32 acres of wetland.

The agency said Pavlina did most of the work, but failed to provide a conservation covenant.

Pavlina has 30 days to pay the penalty or file an appeal.