Schellinger Construction has paid a $15,000 fine levied by the Flathead Conservation District for accidentally spilling muddy water into a small trout stream near land it is developing at Meadow Lake Resort.

On Aug. 12, a water line attached to a sprinkler that was pumping out a retention pond at the Tamarack Meadows subdivision burst, sending muddy water into the normally clear trout stream for several hours.

In an Oct. 3 letter to the district, the company initially disputed the amount of the fine, saying the state Department of Environmental Quality said that doing any in stream work to fix the issue after the fact “would do more harm than good.”

In addition, the company said it had completed its remediation within seven days of the event.

The company argued that a fine of $3,500 was more appropriate, as the violation of the company’s permit to work near the stream, called a 310 permit, was completed in a week.

But in the end, it paid the full amount at the district’s Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this month.

The ponds are designed to retain runoff from the Tamarack Meadows subdivision, which is in the northwest end of the resort and the last subdivision of the golf community development. The ponds are required as part of the overall subdivision plan.

Garnier Creek is a small trout stream that drains the area. The incident falls under dual jurisdictions: The Department of Environmental Quality and the Flathead Conservation District, which oversees and enforces work near streams in the area under the Montana Natural Streambed and Land Preservation Act.

Schellinger had what’s known as a 310 permit to do the work on the ponds, but when the line burst, that was a violation of its permit.

Now Schellinger must obtain a separate 310 permit to mitigate the damage done by the spill.

“The Conservation District did not specify the methodology for remediation, and Schellinger is required to come up with an appropriate plan which may involve consultation with a remediation specialist and may or may not involve instream work,” noted resource conservationist Samantha Tappenbeck.

According to correspondence with the Conservation District and the state environmental agency, the company has finished its work near the ponds and taken measures such as seeding, putting down erosion blankets, work on the slope and other measures to stabilize the ponds.

Neighbors, however, have complained in letters to the agencies and the city of Columbia Falls, which initially approved the plans, that the flow of the creek is now diminished and the seeding has come up weeds.

The Conservation District’s Board of Supervisors gave the company until Nov. 3 to develop a mitigation plan for a new 310 permit.

Having the matter settled is an important part of the subdivision’s final approval. County planner Erik Mack told county commissioners recently that the final plat of the subdivision, which is more than 100 homes, would not be approved until the situation was settled.