Prince William County filed an injunction last week to halt construction of a 291-home development in Dumfries because of the developer's failure to control sediment runoff and erosion that neighbors say damaged a pond and causes flooding during heavy rains.
The Board of County Supervisors, which voted unanimously April 5 to seek the legal action against Fairfax-based Edgemoore Homes, was unmoved by an impromptu plea by the developer's lawyer during a meeting Tuesday.
Richard and Sally Baldwin helped to create this pond in Triangle nearly 30 years ago. Several houses surround its now-muddy water.
(Margaret Thomas -- The Washington Post)
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William Freyvogel, the attorney representing Edgemoore, told the board that the company was repairing silt fences and sediment traps. He said the company, which is working on the Triangle project as Stonewall Manor LLC, immediately took action "as soon as we became aware of the degree of the problem."
"We want you to know we treat this matter seriously," Freyvogel said.
Supervisor Maureen S. Caddigan (R-Dumfries) said the last-minute promise was not enough to change her vote.
"This has been going on for two years. . . . You have really ruined the quality of life in Grand Park Shores," she said, referring to the neighborhood off Quantico Creek. "Talk is cheap. When you prove that you can be good neighbors, then we will work with you."
The county has not received a judgment yet on its request to halt construction.
In an interview, Al Hussain, president of Edgemoore, said he wanted to work with the county and the residents whose pond was damaged.
"At the end of the day, we know the county is here to make sure the community is protected," Hussain said.
Nine families own a piece of a man-made pond built out of a gully in the early 1980s in Triangle. Many have old pictures of the backyard haven, which was once blue. It is now a muddy brown.
Developers are required by law to erect traps, berms, silt fences or other means to prevent erosion. The county has charged Edgemoore Homes with 50 environmental violations, an unusually high number, said Joseph L. Howard Jr., acting county attorney.
