Correction: The headline of this story has been changed to correctly reflect the terms of the notice of violation.

ASHEVILLE — The city has issued a notice of violation to the owners of 1010 Merrimon Ave., the site of the now-infamous sinkhole, and their contractors for pumping sediment and water onto neighboring properties.

The notice of violation is "regarding offsite sedimentation" and "failure to protect property," according to a post on the city's website that includes the notice of violation issued July 26.

That debris has settled on a private trail that runs behind 1020 Merrimon Ave., city officials say.

"You ... have 7 days from receipt of this notice to remove any sediment origination from your site that is now located on adjoining (properties)," the notice said.

City officials clarified that this notice of violation refers only to the pumping activities that occurred after the sinkhole formed and the remediation deadline does not include the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary.

City officials said they are working closely with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, which has set a different timeline for remediation in the Bird Sanctuary.

The property owners, New Day LLC; its representative, Bill Gatewood; and contractor HNH Construction Co. were given 10 days to submit a mitigation plan and timeline for repairs "to prevent future loss of sediment," the notice of violation said. Repairs must meet and "if necessary, exceed" city standards.

Property owner's attorney responds

"The (property owners) are trying to correct this as expeditiously as possible," said Gary Rowe, the attorney representing New Day LLC. "We aren't ignoring it, but we're (working to fix the water flow and) keep the building from falling down."

Rowe said the city should be taking more responsibility for the repairs because the municipality has been "overburdening" the pipes with stormwater drainage routed from other properties and from Merrimon Avenue itself.

This is the same case that Craig Friedrich, owner of Ski Country Sports, unsuccessfully argued in court when sinkholes opened on his property next door to 1010 Merrimon Ave. Friedrich ultimately paid over $210,000 to fix the holes.

If the property owners at 1010 Merrimon Ave. fail to meet the city's conditions, they'll be subject to civil penalties for "offsite sedimentation and failure to protect property," the city notice stated.

The penalty could be up to $5,000 per day the violations continue, as per city ordinances on "stormwater, soil erosion and sediment control, illicit discharge and connection."

Calls to HNH Construction Co. on July 30 have not been returned.

Previous notices of violation, steeper penalties

As the Citizen Times previously reported, the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality issued a notice of violation to New Day LLC on July 1 for violations to wetland standards in the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary.

The sediment from the sinkhole's original opening and the fill property owners used to attempt to close the hole accumulated in the wetlands above Beaver Lake, according to DEQ reports. Since the hole has been filled and refilled several times because of continued drainage, there are likely hundreds of tons of sediment in the Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary. (The first refill required 200 tons of fill, according to a real estate agent representing the property owners).

More Asheville sinkhole coverage:

The DEQ notice required the property owners to submit remediation information, including detailed maps of the properties affected and a plan for "sediment removal, restoration of soil topography, and vegetation for all impacted wetlands and streams," by Aug. 5.

"This office requires that the violations, as detailed above, be abated immediately," the notice said. "These violations and any future violations are subject to a civil penalty assessment of up to $25,000 per day for each violation."

The DEQ marks "days of violation" as "the time from when the division documents the violation to the day when the violation is resolved," according to spokeswoman Sarah Young. That count began on June 26 after a site inspection by the Division of Water Resources. As of Aug. 2, there have been 38 days of violation.