As Part of Water Pollution Fines, Company to Help Cobbett's Pond

Torromeo, a Kingston-based concrete company, was hit with nearly $1 million worth of penalties for illegally dredging wetlands and polluting the Little River, according to state and federal authorities.

The company illegally filled nearly 13 acres of wetlands in Kingston, where it has a gravel mine and concrete plant.

"This is believed to be the largest illegal wetlands fill in the state of New Hampshire to date," Attorney General Michael Delaney said in a statement Thursday.

The company was fined $700,000 for the illegal fill. It was fined another $135,000 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency after it said the company illegally dumped stormwater.

According to an agreement with state prosecutors, $225,000 of the $700,000 fill fine will be suspended on the condition the company restore the wetlands. In exchange for rest of the fines, the company will give the state 8,333 tons of stone and $175,000 in cash. The stone will be used in the Suncook River and Leighton Brook stabilization project in Epsom to protect bridges and roads in that area from river damage, prosecutors said.

The company has already restored about three acres of wetlands, prosecutors said.

The EPA said the company also dumped polluted water into the Little River and other waterways. In addition to the $135,000 fine for that, the company has agreed to implement a $500,000 Supplemental Environmental Project.

The company will remove an impervious parking lot adjacent to Cobbett’s Pond in Windham and replace it with a 35,000-square-foot pervious concrete parking lot. This project will result in a significant decrease in the amount of polluted storm water that drains into Cobbett’s Pond.

“Stormwater runoff and process water discharges from the sand and gravel and ready-mix concrete industry are a significant source of water pollution,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office, in a statement. “We consider the violations in this case to be extremely serious and we are glad that the company worked with EPA and the State to resolve these violations.”