United States v. Boyd Farm LLC, et al.

On June 27, 2024, a court sentenced Boyd Farm LLC and its owner Frazier T. Boyd, III, for filling wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in Goochland and Louisa Counties, Virginia (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(2)(A), (c)(1)(A)). The company will pay a $300,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. Boyd was sentenced to 30 days home confinement and a year of probation.

Between 2017 and 2019, Boyd and his company directed workers to excavate, remove vegetation, and grade land at three sites in Virginia’s Piedmont region. The work left behind piles of dirt, stumps, and woody debris (known as slash). Operators hired by Boyd Farm then placed debris from those piles into wetlands and streams at the properties. The defendants did not obtain the proper permits for this activity despite knowing they were required to do so. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency issued Boyd Farm an Administrative Order requiring compliance with the CWA, including restoring impacted wetlands and streams at another property in Goochland County where unpermitted discharges had occurred.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.