FAIRHOPE, Ala. — The state environmental agency has cited the builder of another Fairhope construction project this month for alleged violations of clean water laws.

On July 20, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management issued a “notice of violation” (NOV) against Don Gordon Construction Inc., the general contractor that is building an elementary school at North Section Street and Bayou Drive.

“The (department) is giving the company 30 days to correct the deficiencies noted in the NOV and return (its) site to compliance with National Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations,” said ADEM spokesman Jerome Hand. “The company had deficiencies with its Best Management Practices (BMPs), offsite sedimentation issues, housekeeping issues and turbidity problems. We consider this the most appropriate enforcement action to take at this time to get them back into compliance.”

That NOV against Don Gordon Construction was issued two days before the agency proposed an $11,000 fine against the developer of the Publix Super Market and shopping center project at U.S. 98 and Parker Road for alleged violations of clean water laws.

The Publix project has received substantial media coverage and resident complaints since construction started early last year, including two notices of intent to file federal environmental lawsuits, but the elementary school construction project has received little public attention since construction began there in December.

However, one local resident, who lives near the school project, noticed what he claimed were problems there in February, complaining to the city that muddy runoff had flowed off the site, across Section Street and entered Mobile Bay from a creek at the end of Gayfer Court.

“On Monday morning at about 7:15, I noticed while driving my kids to daycare that a man was feverishly sweeping Bayou Drive,” wrote Clay Bryant in a Feb. 18 e-mail to the city’s environmental officer. “I returned today with camera in hand to find a clear trail where red-dirt stormwater flowed into the sewer. As a (nearby) resident, I am deeply worried about this event and what may be recurrences.”

The city issued a stop-work order against the project at that time, but then learned that neither city nor county governments have authority to review or inspect school construction projects or enforce local environmental or building code laws, according to the city’s environmental officer.

That oversight authority is with the Alabama Building Commission, which inspects state-funded projects and public schools under construction “to ensure code compliance and conformance with contract documents,” according to its Web site.

Bill Wiggins, field inspector for the Southwest Region, is the state official charged with oversight of the new Fairhope Elementary School project.

His region covers 11 counties, and he is the only employee currently overseeing between 75 and 80 projects in that region, he said.

“We have taken action,” Wiggins said recently about the elementary school project, which included a meeting of all parties to discuss problems at the site and additional silt fencing and other measures taken to prevent muddy water from leaving the construction site.

“We did find a rogue drainage pipe uphill of Section Street that at some point goes into the sewage treatment plant,” he said. “That water was not going into the detention pond. The additional silt fencing was the result of all that, as well as some new curbing installed.”

Two months ago, ADEM conducted an inspection of the facility and sent a letter to Don Gordon Construction on May 29, which led to the July 20 NOV. That inspection report included 69 pictures with captions that included the following alleged violations: “silt fencing improperly installed and/or maintained,” “inadequate inlet protection,” “disturbed slope not stabilized and/or protected,” “onsite sedimentation noted in parking lot,” and “onsite erosion near stockpiles of sediment.”

The report also included several pictures taken after a June 4 rain event, including those it described as muddy water being retained in Big Mouth Gully at the southeast corner of North Section Street and Bayou Drive, a plume of sediment at the discharge point into Big Mouth Gully, and a “red turbid contrast” where a creek near that gully entered Mobile Bay.

Don Gordon of Don Gordon Construction said this week that he had not received a copy of the NOV, but that his company had taken steps to correct alleged problems at the site after the ADEM inspection.

“They pointed out some things we needed to do, which we did some of, and actually went beyond that and we put in additional silt fencing that wasn’t even required on the BMP drawing,” Gordon said. “We also put in berms to redirect the water on that drive that comes into Section Street, so the water wouldn’t run directly into the street. It should go in and filter through our silt fences, and (ADEM) didn’t recommend that. We did that on our own.”

Gordon said ADEM sent the NOV to the wrong address in Fairhope, instead of to his Daphne location, which is the address listed on the ADEM registration form.

The company has 30 days from receipt of the NOV to file a report prepared by a “Qualified Credentialed Professional” with the agency showing the steps that have been taken to correct the violations alleged in the NOV.

The NOV listed five alleged violations, including one stating that “significant accumulations of sediment were observed offsite and in state waters downgradient/downstream of stormwater discharge outlets at the facility.”

The NOV states that failure to file the report is a violation of state environmental laws and subject to civil and criminal penalties.

“General contractors are expected to adhere to all applicable laws as well as environmental guidelines,” said Terry Wilhite, spokesman for Baldwin County Schools. “The obligation for the contractor to adhere to law and guidelines is spelled out very plainly in the Board of Education’s work contract. Baldwin School construction personnel have been working with Don Gordon and with the state building inspector to resolve any concerns in a swift and appropriate manner. Everybody, including the contractor, wants the job to be done right.”

Gordon said “the only problem we’ve had with runoff has been on three occasions, and they’ve all been after heavy rains.”

After runoff problems during the May rain event, the project’s engineering firm, Volkert & Associates, prepared a “drainage improvements plan” report that recommended increasing the size of the retention pond at Big Mouth Gully at North Section Street and Bayou Drive. That retention pond is owned by Baldwin County Schools and is designed to hold and filter water before it flows downstream, Gordon said. In mid-July, this 1.55-acre parcel of land, on which the retention pond is located, was donated to the city of Fairhope by the Baldwin County School System, according to the Fairhope Single Tax Corp.

The plan was presented to the school board for its approval with an estimated cost of $54,670, he said. The school board has not yet acted on that request, he said.

Last week, another heavy rain filled the retention pond with muddy water, which Gordon said drains not only from the construction site but all the way from Morphy Avenue to the south and Gayfer Avenue to the north.

“All that dirty water was not ours,” he said Friday. “I’m not saying some wasn’t ours, but it wasn’t all ours.”

The construction contract of the elementary school project was awarded to Don Gordon Construction in the amount of $13,400,000, according to Baldwin County Schools.

Gordon said the project was on schedule and should be completed by Dec. 1.

“If there is any entity that should be following the environmental laws and setting a good example, it’s the school board because they are the ones responsible for educating our children,” said Jim Horner, chairman of the Fairhope Environmental Advisory Board. “But that didn’t happen in this case.”