By Claire Sachse
Claire.Sachse@tryondailybulletin.com

Jerry Thomas, principal with Daystar Enterprises, Inc. of Landrum, S.C. has received a North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources notice of violation for dumping construction debris from the former Grover Industries mill into, and alongside, the North Pacolet River. The former mill is located in Lynn, N.C. on Clarence Rhodes Rd. on 4.58 acres.

The Bulletin obtained a copy of the notice dated July 30, 2015, signed by DENR regional supervisor G. Landon Davidson. The agency wrote that Andrew Moore, of the Division of Water Resources (DWR) Asheville Regional Office, observed approximately 200 feet of riverbank “covered with sediment and construction debris,” and noted that the debris and sediment were observed in the stream channel below the ordinary high water mark.

The notice cites three violations. The first, Other Waste (Construction Debris and In-Stream Sediment), states that approximately 200 feet of the Pacolet River (Class C) were impacted by sediment deposition and construction debris in violation of Water Quality Stream Standards.

The second was Removal of Best Usage. North Carolina Administrative Code requires that waters be “suitable for aquatic life propagation and maintenance of biological integrity, wildlife, secondary recreation and agriculture.” Sources of pollution that prevent these activities are considered a violation of water quality standards.

Thirdly, Thomas was cited for Failure to Secure a 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC). Neither the DWR nor the US Army Corps of Engineers received an application for a 404 Permit or a 401 WQC from Thomas. Applications are required pursuant to the Clean Water Act.

The letter continues on to list actions to be taken to stabilize the stream banks and to prevent additional violations in order to avoid civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day per violation.

Thomas, who bought the shuttered mill in 2012, said Tuesday that he hired contractors to dig out about 30 feet underneath the building as part of his ongoing renovation of the property, and the contractor dumped the debris on the riverbanks without his knowledge or consent. He would not name the contractors.

Thomas said that when he noticed what the contractors did he began an immediate fix by removing about half a pickup truck load of dirt from the river, putting mulch down to hold the banks, and a silt fence in place. Over the mulch he plans to place a mat that will be staked down. The mulch, he said, will grow vegetation.

“I’ll make it right,” Thomas said. “We started the silt fence before I was notified. I’m making it right. The corrective actions will be complete next week.”

Mindy Wiener, project manager for the mill project, wrote in an email to the Bulletin Wednesday that, “We are currently completing the deconstruction phase and are doing what we can to finish this phase by year end. Three to five year plans for a complete restoration of this historic facility are currently on hold pending the county’s issue of providing septic throughout the [Hwy.] 108 business corridor.”

“When the time is right,” she continued, “we plan to honor this site and bring it back to full glory as a multi-use facility featuring retail, restaurants and a cidery that will benefit our local community and the growing number of visitors to our Foothills area.” Thomas said that a coffee shop and high-end retail are other possibilities.

According to Wiener, workers excavating the ground floor at Grover were opening up another 1,200-3,000 square feet of usable space. Instead of using the fill dirt from that process to cover unused dye vats at the back of the property and to build up a berm along the river for a future boardwalk, the dirt was put on the riverbank instead.

Thomas was given until today to respond to DWR verbally with a plan to stabilize the streambanks, and until August 28 to submit maps of the impacted area, a sediment removal plan, and schedules, narratives and diagrams explaining the remedial work to be done.

Thomas has other large-scale projects in the works in Polk County, including the old St. Luke’s building in Tryon, bought in 2013 with plans to renovate it into a multi-purpose event center. He is also in contract negotiations for the Woodland Mills building adjacent to Polk County Middle School.