Property owner to pay 12K for waterway, wetland violations

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Suamico property owner David Blohoweak has been ordered to pay $12,000 in forfeitures, assessments, costs and fees for illegally filling wetlands and building an artificial pond on the bank of a navigable stream without any permits from the Department of Natural Resources, according to a news release from the Wisconsin attorney general’s office.

The violations occurred at Blohoweak’s property in the village of Suamico’s Barkhausen Creek since 1996.

Wisconsin law prohibits the discharging of pollutants into wetlands without a certification from the DNR that the discharges comply with state water quality standards. Wisconsin law also prohibits the construction of an artificial pond within 500 feet of a navigable water without a permit.

In addition to paying a judgment of $12,000 for the violations, Blohoweak will remove the unlawfully placed fill material from and restore the wetland areas on his property, and will obtain an after-the-fact permit for the pond, according to the release.

Assistant Attorney General JoAnne F. Kloppenburg prosecuted the case for the state.