State fines rally venue operator

By Dan Daly, Journal Staff Writer | Wednesday, July 26, 2006

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STURGIS -- Gary Lippold, owner of the Glencoe CampResort and the new Rock'n the Rally concert venue east of Sturgis, has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to settle charges by the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources that he had violated the federal Clean Water Act.

Between September 2005 and March 2006, Glencoe crews had done earthmoving and other construction at the new Sturgis motorcycle rally concert venue without first receiving a storm-water discharge permit, which is required by the Clean Water Act, according to a DENR news release.

DENR said Lippold had cooperated with the agency as soon as inspectors notified him that the permit is needed.

The agency inspected the project in February and told him the permit was needed. He applied for the permit a short time later, and the agency granted it on March 17.

Crews finished the project throughout the next several months.

Meanwhile, another controversial rally construction project is apparently in the same situation. Jay Allen's new Broken Spoke Saloon and Sturgis County Line campground began dirt work for a biker bar and campground this spring without a permit. It is on S.D. Highway 79 from Glencoe.

Kelli Buscher, DENR natural-resources engineering director, confirmed this week that the Broken Spoke developer had been doing work without a storm-water discharge permit. The project does have a permit now, she said. State records indicate Sturgis County Line was issued a storm-water permit on July 11.

Asked about possible enforcement action similar to the Glencoe case, Buscher said she could not yet comment. Bryce Flint, the Sturgis attorney who represents Jay Allen and Sturgis County Line, also declined comment.

Opponents of both projects - a group that includes American Indians who say the venues are too close to Bear Butte, which they hold sacred, and east Meade County residents who decry the Sturgis motorcycle rally's eastward expansion - raised the issue of storm-water permits in June.

Opponents told the Meade County Commission that they could find no record of Sturgis County Line getting a storm- water discharge permit. They urged the commission to deny a liquor license to Jay Allen. The commissioners, however, issued the liquor license.

At the time, DENR officials said that Glencoe had a permit, but they found no record of a Broken Spoke/Sturgis County Line storm-water permit. They did not disclose, however, that Glencoe's permit had been granted five months after work had begun. According to the DENR Web site, builders must get the storm-water permit 15 days before work begins.

DENR, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, requires a storm-water permit for any construction site that is larger than an acre.

Its intent, officials said, is to prevent and reduce soil runoff and erosion during the construction project. The permit requires that dams and other measures are built to keep disturbed soil from washing away.

In its release, DENR praised Glencoe's Lippold for his response to the agency's enforcement action.

"DENR is pleased that Mr. Lippold promptly responded and worked cooperatively with the department to complete a pollution-prevention plan for his construction site and get his project properly permitted," DENR Secretary Steve Pirner said.

Glencoe CampResort does its own construction work, and DENR said Lippold and his crews didn't know a permit was required.

Lippold already had built diversion dikes, sediment dams and other measures to control runoff, DENR said. DENR said it found no pollution had occurred from the unpermitted construction work. Now that the project is nearly complete, Lippold is revegetating the area.

"Our organization fully supports the DENR's goal of protecting our state's waterways," Lippold said in the news release. "We understand the importance of their work and will continue to cooperate to our fullest to ensure complete compliance with any and all DENR regulations. The DENR's guidance and direction regarding our discharge permit has been most helpful and timely."

The $10,000 fine will be deposited in the state Regulated Substance Response Fund, according to DENR. The fund is used to respond to environmental problems where a responsible party cannot or will not respond.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com