Crofton-based property managers Horizon Land Management accumulated more than $1 million in fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year for dumping excessive pollutants into the Patuxent River and its tributaries through its wastewater treatment plants.

EPA documents indicate that wastewater treatment plants servicing four Horizon mobile home communities — Boone’s Estates, Patuxent and Lyons Creek, in Lothian, and Maryland Manor, in Harwood — were discharging excessive amounts E. coli and other types of waste into the water between January 2019 and October 2023, violating the Clean Water Act.

Traci Benjamin, an EPA spokesperson, noted the $1.1 million fine total may change in settlement negotiations.

“Definitely serious health consequences for coming into contact with that stuff,” said Fred Tutman, riverkeeper & CEO with Patuxent Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that advocates for clean waterways.

Tutman said residents are still fishing in the outfall behind Maryland Manor at Wootons Landing Park in Harwood. He and his team installed a sign there warning anglers about the dangers of eating fish swimming in sewage.

Still, the fine is a hard-fought victory for Tutman, who, in 2020, collected samples and filed a complaint with the EPA after receiving information from a prior worker at the wastewater plants and numerous complaints from residents of wastewater bubbling out of maintenance holes and discharge spewing from pipes into the waterways.

In addition to paying the fines, Horizon must have an engineering evaluation performed, draft a corrective action plan and provide quarterly progress reports, according to the December 2023 orders.

Molly Boyle, a spokesperson for Horizon, said the wastewater treatment issues predated their management of the properties. Horizon acquired the four properties between 2015 and 2017, according to EPA documents.

“Prior to acquiring the communities, Horizon was aware that those owners did not maintain or invest in the wastewater treatment plants,” she said in an email. “Since taking ownership Horizon has invested over $3 million into numerous deferred maintenance projects and plant enhancements.”

However, it’s not only the sewage and waste exiting the mobile homes that are of concern to residents but also the drinking water entering their communities.

Residents at Maryland Manor stopped drinking the water long ago, saying it periodically comes out brown or yellow and smells. It’s been that way for decades, according to Diane Hobbs who moved in in 1990.

“We don’t even give our dogs that water,” said six-year Maryland Manor resident Trena Milbourne-Stringer.

Milbourne-Stringer and others regularly purchase large jugs of water despite paying $38 a month for water service.

“I’m scared to wash with it,” added Elinor Thompson, a 22-year resident.

Throughout 2024, the Maryland Department of the Environment received complaints about the water via the EPA at Boone’s Estates, Maryland Manor and Patuxent, said department spokesperson Jay Apperson. The department visited each location and noted no issues.

Apperson explained that the EPA has non-mandatory limits for discoloring and odor-emitting contaminants in drinking water, including aluminum, copper, iron, silver and zinc. Though they can cause skin or tooth discoloration, the EPA does not require compliance with their recommended standards for the 15 contaminants. States can choose to enforce the EPA’s standards, but Maryland does not, Apperson said.

There have, however, been prior violations at Maryland Manor and the other three communities.

According to an EPA database, across 18 visits to Maryland Manor since 2004, six violations were related to the drinking water. Violations from 2018 and 2020 related to coliforms, which can suggest the presence of disease-causing bacteria like typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis A and cholera. Maryland Manor returned to compliance after each violation.

Though recent inspections suggest the water is safe to drink, residents receive occasional waterline flushing and boil water advisories. That, combined with the color and odor, leads to residents purchasing bottled water for drinking and cooking.

“We’ve got the fixed incomes, a lot of seniors,” Milbourne-Stringer said.

Ricky Baez, a 25-year-old lifelong Maryland Manor resident, lives off $776 monthly disability checks and donations from churches. His lot rent is now $832 a month. Despite his dire financial situation, he also purchases bottled water regularly due to concerns about the company’s water.

Boyle said the drinking water in these communities is tested monthly by a third party that submits results to MDE. Recent reports indicating no violations have gone out to residents.

“Horizon prioritizes resident safety and is vigilant to ensure water is safe in all communities,” Boyle wrote.

Environmental concerns peaked in late May when residents observed the spraying of a chemical on some of the property’s grass. Residents say it quickly turned the grass white, smelled foul, and some believe it led to breathing problems. According to residents, it was the first time they’ve seen the lawn sprayed.

When Thompson went to the doctor in mid-June with a cough, the doctor noted effects from breathing in chemicals on her discharge papers and prescribed her Albuterol, a bronchodilator pump. Thompson said this was due to the health issues that started soon after the spray. She and Milbourne-Stringer said their neighbor who has asthma went to the hospital a few days after the spraying with breathing difficulty.

“I can come out for a little while, then I start wheezing and stuff,” Thompson said. “I don’t know how long this is going to last.”

According to Boyle, the chemical was pesticide-free weed killer. She added that the community hasn’t been made aware of any health or safety concerns from residents about the treatment.

Milbourne-Stringer and Thompson said that since the spray, they have to wipe residue off their dogs’ feet after they walk on the affected grass. Their dogs, Attila and Ketchup, respectively, start itching when they touch it and Milbourne-Stringer now gives her dog Benadryl as advised by her vet, she said.

“He’s always licking his paws now,” Milbourne-Stringer said of Attila. “He never did that.”

“She’s sneezing,” Thompson said of Ketchup. “She doesn’t want to come outside and lay in the yard anymore.”

In mid-June, Thompson filed a complaint with the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Department spokesperson Kelly Love said an inspector took a sample and submitted it to the state chemist section for analysis but declined to comment further, citing a department policy of not speaking on open cases.

Spending time tending to her yard is a major part of Milbourne-Stringer’s mental health treatment, she said.

“I was devastated,” she said of first seeing the white grass. “They destroyed my zen.”

Residents at Maryland Manor are responsible for their own trailers so they pay only for the land on which they sit and the water. They said they don’t feel they get much for what they pay for anymore, but can’t afford to live anywhere else.

“We shouldn’t have to live like that,” Thompson said.