An artist’s rendering of the 315 West Ponce apartment complex. Source: Carter USA

A contractor for Carter USA, the developer behind the 315 West Ponce apartment project, paid a $2,000 fine after soil from the construction site washed into Peavine Creek.

The contractor pleaded no-contest after the city issued a citation for the spill and paid the fine on Jan. 14, according to city spokeswoman Casie Yoder.

Conor McNally, Carter USA’s chief Development Officer, said the company and the contractor are redoubling efforts to control erosion on the project site. The soil spill happened when one of the contractor’s silt fences around a catch basin failed during rain storms at the end of December, McNally said.

“We’re taking the steps to fix it,” McNally said. “We’re committed to making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Yoder said a city inspector visited the site on Dec. 23 and first noticed one of the catch-basins needed repair. She told the contractor to fix it. She later received a message from a resident who was concerned about the amount of red clay in the creek.

“The general contractor called his people to come out and clean out the catch basin and there was a lot of walking around the creek to determine what was impacted,” Yoder said. “So as of Jan. 1, they were in compliance, the catch basin was clean and things were how they were supposed to be.”

Earlier this week, the city confirmed that the state Environmental Protection Division visited  the Beacon Hill Municipal Complex site on West Trinity after heavy rains turned over a contractor’s fuel tank, spilling diesel fuel into Peavine Creek.