A Coffey County business and its owner have reached a civil settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly putting concrete into the Neosho River.
The EPA says Thomas Robrahn and Skillman Construction LLC will pay a $60,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The EPA says Robrahn and Skillman Construction put around 400 cubic yards of broken concrete into the river near Robrahn’s property to stabilize the riverbank. The work affected around 240 feet of the river, which has populations of the threatened Neosho madtom fish species, and happened without either first obtaining a Clean Water Act permit — which is not allowed by EPA rules unless a permit is approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Part of the settlement includes restoring the impacted site to come into compliance with the Clean Water Act, including a removal of the concrete.
