MINNEAPOLIS -- A Wayzata-based company must pay $415-thousand for damaging a wetland near Sauk Rapids and abandoning the site.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says DMH Partners North LLC. has agreed to pay a $75,000 civil penalty and buy $340,000 worth of wetlands credits for violating the Clean Water Act.

The company was issued a permit by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2008 to develop a 34-acre parcel in Sauk Rapids. Just over 10 acres of that was protected wetlands.

The permit allowed DMH to discharge fill material into 7.8 acres of the wetland provided certain conditions were met including buying off-site wetland credits to make up for the harm to the wetland. In June 2009, officials inspected the site and found DMH had filled the wetland on site but had abandoned it without completing the conditions of the permit. DMH never bought the off-site wetland credits.

Officials later discovered the site had been sold at a foreclosure auction.

DMH then failed to comply with demands to fix the problem. DMH has now agreed to pay the fine and buy the wetland credits.

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