Stow Acres Country Club owner fined $8K for violating state drinking water regulations
Photo I Courtesy of Stow Acres Country Club
Stow Acres Country Club's South Course
An owner of Stow Acres Country Club has been fined by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for violations of the state’s drinking water and groundwater discharge permit regulations.
Stow Holdings was penalized $8,429 after a routine MassDEP inspection found the company defied drinking water regulations by using fertilizer inside a protected well water area, neglecting to replace corroded pressure tanks, and failing to integrate backflow prevention devices in order to avoid potential cross contamination. Furthermore, MassDEP found Stow Holdings had discharged wastewater derived from water softeners into the ground without a permit, according to a Friday press release from MassDEP.
Stow Holdings did not reply to WBJ’s request for comment. Stow Holdings owns Stow Acres’ South Course while the club’s North Course is mostly owned by the Town of Stow.
"All water suppliers have a responsibility to provide safe drinking water to their customers," Mary Jude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester, said in the release. "This enforcement ensures Stow Holdings will operate and maintain its water system in compliance with regulations and protect the health and the environment of the community it serves."
In addition to agreeing to pay the $8,429 fine, Stow Holdings is working to comply with environmental regulations, including discontinuing use of fertilizer inside the protected water area and redirecting backwash waste water to a proper location.
Stow Acres Country Club operates on the site of the first Black-owned golf course in New England and one of the first in the U.S. In 1926, Robert Hawkins bought the land, establishing Mapledale Country Club more than 30 years before the PGA removed its Caucasian-only clause in 1961, offering Black golfers a place to play during acute racial segregation.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments