State officials have reached a $3 million settlement agreement with the Albert D. Seeno Construction Co. concerning alleged environmental damage at a housing development in Antioch.
The state charged that Seeno didn’t have proper permits to do grading work in the Mira Vista subdivision that destroyed ponds and several waterways during various stages of development. The violations were uncovered and investigated by the state Department of Fish & Game.
“This is a great win for us,” said Liz Kanter, spokeswoman with the State Water Board. “Because this gentleman is a repeat offender, we decided to go after a larger fine. He did not want a criminal prosecution … and wanted to settle.”
Seeno construction companies have been cited for environmental violations four times since 1996.
In the Mira Vista case, Seeno has agreed to pay $500,000 to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality and Control Board, $250,000 to the state Fish and Game Preservation Fund, $250,000 to the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund, $250,000 to the state Department of Justice to pay for future environmental enforcement and $250,000 to the Contra Costa County Treasurer.
In addition to monetary penalties, Seeno has agreed to grant a 60-acre parcel to the East Bay Regional Park District for endowment and preservation purposes, officials said. The company will also train its employees on environmental regulations, and it must conduct biological and wetland assessments of its properties.
“The Seeno company in no way admits any fault or liability in this case but settled this to avoid what can be a very expensive endeavor when you’re involved in a legal dispute with the government,” said Seeno spokesman Kiley Russell. “This is a business decision to get it behind the company and do what they’re good at, which is building homes.”
In October 2005, the Department of Fish & Game organized a multiagency inspection of the Mira Vista development.
“During the inspections, water board staff found that three unnamed creeks and four seasonal ponds had been filled in during home construction,” Frances McChesney, the board’s senior staff counsel, wrote in an e-mail.
Five years ago, Seeno’s West Coast Home Builders pleaded guilty to violating the federal Endangered Species Act for the 2001 killing of red-legged frogs and deliberate destruction of a frog habitat at the construction site of the San Marco subdivision in Pittsburg.
“He was fined $1 million and ordered to write a public apology,” Kanter said. “Obviously, that wasn’t a deterrent.”
Christina Wong, East Bay field representative for Greenbelt Alliance, said developers can’t be wholly trusted with environmental decisions.
“This is a reminder that we need to be skeptical about the claims developers make,” she said. “It’s clear that the people of Contra Costa County and their elected officials need to keep a close eye on developers like Albert Seeno, who has a track record of destroying the environment.”
Wong said Greenbelt Alliance is working to preserve an open hillside in Pittsburg that Seeno is eyeing for a possible development.
Russell said the company should not be defined solely by its transgressions.
“If you look at the history of the projects,” he said, “the incidents are quite small in number compared to the good work they’re doing.”
Simon Read covers Antioch. Reach him at 925-779-7166 or sread@bayareanewsgroup.com.
seeno FINES and penalties
— Times news researcher Camille Donaldson
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