POLAND TWP., Ohio -  The federal government has filed a lawsuit against  Poland couple for allegedly polluting wetlands and a creek in an upscale Poland Township neighborhood in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

Joseph and Donna Zdrilich are named in a civil complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court alleging that from 2006 until 2016, they, along with three companies associated with Donna Zdrilich cleared vegetation and dumped dredged fill material into Burgess Run and adjacent wetlands on property along Polo Boulevard.

 

According to county records, Polo Boulevard is a housing development with several $400,000 homes off Youngstown Pittsburgh Road.

The government complaint says that before the alleged dumping, the wetlands provided a habitat suitable for fish, deer, beaver, and other wildlife.  In addition, the area had a wide floodplain that stored flood flow and reduced downstream flooding, according to the government.

The complaint says Joseph Zdrilich was first told in 2006 to stop excavation until the Ohio EPA and Army Corps of engineers could evaluate his activities.

The following year the Army Corps of Engineers informed Zdrilich that filling the land was in violation of the Clean Water act, according to the government.

The complaint says the Mahoning Soil and Water Conservation District again sent Zdrilich a letter in 2008 that informing that clearing, placement of fill, or excavation of these areas would violate the CWA. He was further ordered to remove the fill.

In  2011, the EPA told Zdrilich that the site had been unlawfully filled.

In 2016, the Army Corps of engineers sent Zdrilich a letter ordering home to stop dredging and filling at the property, according to the complaint.

The complaint says the Zdriichs failed to carry out two separate plans to restore the wetlands and pay a $32,550 civil penalty. The couple has denied liability for the damage, according to the complaint.

In addition to ordering the payment of the civil penalty with interest, the government is asking a federal judge to issue another penalty, plus interest, against the Carbon Hills company and Donna Zdrilich, who is identified in the complaint as the company’s secretary.

The government alleges that Donna Zdrilich and Carbon Hills “fraudulently” transferred assets to two other companies to hinder, delay, or defraud the United States or another creditor.

In addition to seeking complete restoration of Burgess Run, a tributary, and the wetlands, the government wants civil penalties against the Zdrilichs for each day of Clean Water Act violations.

As of Friday morning, the couple had not filed a response to the government complaint.