We’ve been hearing about it in different parts of the country for many months—abandoned building sites on which few erosion and sediment control measures are in place, sometimes none at all. Even as some areas report a slight increase in home sales, it will likely take years for many of the partially finished construction projects around the country to be completed or to finally be torn down and the sites returned to a more stable form.
Just last month, one of the largest homebuilders in the US reached a settlement with EPA for Clean Water Act violations. Those violations, however, mainly involved lack of permits or failure to contain sediment on active construction sites. Abandoned sites are trickier because it’s often not clear who’s responsible. Sometimes ownership is tied up in the courts, and local governments generally lack the resources to take over sediment control on the sites themselves.
A recent Associated Press article details the problems, including a neighborhood in North Carolina where the erosion is so bad that huge potholes are creating a safety hazard.
Are you seeing similar situations in your area? How are local authorities handling it?