Utah regulators say Hogan & Associates Construction illegally dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater last year, despite being told the water was contaminated and dewatering required a permit.
Hogan is the contractor building the Park City School District’s Treasure Mountain Sports Complex on Kearns Boulevard, where the discharges occurred.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a notice of violation and compliance order to the contractor Sept. 2 after a nearly yearlong investigation.
The school district and Hogan previously admitted to one day of illegal dumping on Oct. 10, 2025.
Based on Hogan’s pump activity log, investigators estimate 26,496 gallons of water were discharged into the Pace Homer Ditch — a tributary of Silver Creek — that day.
However, an initial noncompliance report submitted to the DEQ stated only 7,200 gallons were discharged.
Hogan previously said water was released Oct. 10 only after subcontractor tests showed it was not hazardous, as defined by federal and state regulatory standards.
The contractor also said it didn’t obtain a state permit because it didn’t think one was required for uncontaminated water.
However, state law requires a permit for offsite water discharges related to construction. That’s something subcontractor R&R Environmental told Hogan in an Aug. 14, 2025, email.
Six days later, R&R provided sampling results to Hogan showing the water was contaminated with heavy metals. Further, the DEQ said the Treasure Mountain site is known to contain elevated levels of lead and arsenic.
Despite those results, Hogan described the groundwater as “uncontaminated” when it applied for a dewatering permit Oct. 10.
Hogan’s subcontractor, Cearley SWPPP Management, reported the Oct. 10 discharge to the DEQ spills hotline the same day.
The DEQ then requested pump activity logs, which Hogan submitted Oct. 28. State investigators now say the Oct. 10 incident was only a fraction of the illegal dumping.
Hogan had discharged water into a nearby storm drain between Sept. 9 and Oct. 8, 2025. Investigators found an additional 492,312 gallons owere released there over 17 days.
Although the logs showed no discharges into a nearby storm drain after Oct. 8, investigators found another unauthorized discharge happened Oct. 13.
In all, Hogan illegally dumped at least 518,000 gallons of contaminated water, plus evidence of additional discharges.
Hogan must now submit a detailed report of all water discharges since the start of the project, including water quality sample data.
The contractor must also submit a plan for sampling and analysis of the sediments in the Pace Homer Ditch to determine if there is damage.
The illegal water dumping can come with a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day of violation. The state did not impose a fine.
