Borough Assembly Member Yundt in Violation of Clean Water Act

Story updated June 14, 2023

Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Robert Yundt and his company are being sued for violations of the Clean Water Act. The locations of the violations are two parcels at Cottonwood Lake and one at Wasilla Lake. All sites contain wetlands and are near sensitive waterways. This is the second complaint issued to Yundt by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, for the same violations.  

Yundt cleared and filled wetlands at all the sites. Rip rap, gravel, and soil were added to the shoreline below the high-water mark at the Wasilla Lake site. The EPA complaint notes that the materials were added to the lake to build a floating dock. According to Mat-Su Borough Planning Director Alex Strawn, Mr. Yundt was issued a Borough floodplain development permit for four pilings and a floating dock. No shore work was permitted. Four agencies are responsible for permitting docks, depending on the lake, river, or stream. Those include the Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Department of Natural Resources, and the Mat-Su Borough. 

The EPA Complaint states that the fill materials are pollutants under the Clean Water Act. In addition, the company used certain heavy earthmoving equipment, including an excavator and dump truck, to move the materials. The heavy machinery is a point source, which is any definable source of pollution discharge. The actions are a violation of the Clean Water Act because Yundt and his company were not authorized by federal permit to do any such activity in or near waterways or wetlands.

Yundt signed a Consent Agreement for each site in 2021, according to the court case filed in April. That Agreement states that Yundt would submit a work plan within 45 days and that the work would be completed by the end of July 2022. 

After submitting tardy and incomplete work plans, Yundt submitted new plans in January of this year, which were approved by the EPA. However, Yundt has not completed the restoration work at any of the sites, nor provided a timeline for completion.

The proposed changes to the conditional use permit for earth extraction activities, also called the gravel ordinance, will be up for vote at the June 6th Borough Assembly meeting. The EPA claims make it clear that Yundt has access to equipment that is capable of hauling and moving gravel. Yet, Yundt did not recuse himself from the discussion or votes on the topic at previous meetings. 

Yundt did not respond to requests for comment and EPA representatives could not comment on an open case.

This story was updated to reflect information provided by Mat-Su Borough representatives that initially stated Yundt’s Borough permit was approved for the rip rap and dock. Borough representatives corrected the information to state that the permit was issued for pilings and a dock.