LANSING, MI — An Ingham County judge has ordered an excavation contractor to pay a $150,000 fine following years of alleged permit violations at pond building projects.

Scott Schlicht of Schlicht Excavating must start paying the state in October under an order from Ingham County Judge Wanda Stokes, who ruled last year that Schlicht violated Michigan law during multiple pond construction and dredging projects.

The ruling stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which accused Schlicht of failing to secure permits or violating their conditions at multiple residential construction projects in six counties between 2017 and 2021.

According to the state, Schlicht’s company frequently ignored requirements to control sedimentation with turbidity curtains or control measures, worked outside permitted excavation boundaries and put dredge spoils in protected wetlands.

The alleged violations occurred in Genesee, Jackson, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, Roscommon and Washtenaw counties.

A message seeking comment at Schlicht Ponds in Montrose was not returned. Schlicht’s attorney Robert K. Kaufman of Oklahoma declined to comment.

Schlicht and Kaufman are asking Ingham County Judge James Jamo to disqualify Judge Stokes and reconsider her two Aug. 15 orders, which established the civil fine and overruled their objections to the state’s post-judgment witness testimony.

Stokes fined Schlicht the full amount requested by EGLE and issued an injunction to prevent his company from further violating state inland lake and wetland protection laws.

In July 2024, Stokes ruled in favor of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) on summary disposition and closed the case.

EGLE sent Schlicht an invoice on Aug. 28 for $37,500, due Oct. 14.

According to state documents, EGLE escalated its permit enforcement in 2020 after an investigation into Schlicht projects dating back to 2015 found that lakes had been dredged and ponds built in wetlands without proper permits.

Parts 301 and 303 of the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) require a permit for any excavation within 500 feet of a regulated waterway or wetland.

Schlicht Ponds caseA Schlicht Ponds excavator dredges the bottom of Cusick Lake in Macomb County, Mich., in August 2020. The state says the beach-building project permit explicitly forbade dredging. The property owner undertook years of restoration. (Michigan EGLE)Michigan EGLE

According to EGLE, Schlicht violated permits at properties on Cusick Lake, Zukey Lake, Swains Lake, Squaw Lake, Lake Columbia, Bullard Lake, Logan Lake and Lake Wilson.

Schlicht’s clients who owned the property where violations occurred also received notices and EGLE forced multiple owners to undertake remedial efforts such as moving dredge spoils, planting trees, landscaping and restoring shorelines. Some violations were challenged through administrative cases.

Violation notices on certain projects date back to Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration, when EGLE was known as the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The Schlicht Ponds website says the company began in 2006 and “proudly stands as the #1 pond builder in Michigan.”

Nessel and EGLE Director Phil Roos issued statements this week committing to holding environmental law violators accountable.

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