State threatens legal action if residents don’t repair Aspen Lake Dam in Hampstead

A 900-foot man-made lake that is home to turtles, fish and migrating geese in Carroll County has become the center of a dispute between state officials and a handful of nearby homeowners.

The Maryland Department of the Environment has determined that the Aspen Lake Dam and Reservoir, just west of Hampstead, is deteriorating and needs repair. The department has ordered that seven property owners living near or around the lake and dam must pay for the repairs, or expect legal action, according to letters sent to the property owners.

The residents say state officials told them that costs for engineering and construction could run as high as $150,000. The homeowners are refusing to pay for repairs claiming they do not own the lake or the dam.

“I don’t think the state has much of a leg to stand on, ” said David Sullivan, a resident of Waterview Court, on the north end of the lake. “I’ve been here since February of 1986, and during settlement no one ever mentioned caring for the lake or cleaning around the pond. No one ever mentioned that.”

Jay Apperson, deputy director of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Office of Communications, stated in an email that the department has “no comment” on the matter.

But a June 24 letter from the Department of the Environment threatens legal action against seven homeowners unless they sign a consent order agreeing to pay for the necessary repairs.

“Prior to instituting a formal action, however, the department will offer you one last opportunity to voluntarily complete the necessary repairs of the dam and reservoir, by agreeing to enter into the attached consent order,” Jonathan May, an assistant attorney general who advises the Maryland Department of the Environment, stated in the letter. “If you agree to sign the consent order, and to complete the necessary corrective actions in accordance with the consent order’s deadlines, this office will refrain from filing a complaint in the circuit court at this time to seek removal of the dam.”

When contacted, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office directed all questions on the issue to MDE.

Meanwhile, the consent order states that MDE’s Dam Safety Inspection and Compliance Division determined that the residents own the dam and are required to take corrective action. It also directs homeowners to obtain permits from MDE before repairs are made.

The consent order states that MDE inspected the dam and reservoir on July 9, 2020, and determined it was unsafe and in need of repairs. The agency conducted a second inspection on July 16, 2020, issuing violations against the homeowners.

On July 20, 2023, the department issued another violation, and on Feb. 23 of this year, the dam and reservoir were again inspected and still found to be unsafe. The inspection found deterioration of the spillway outfall pipe, and trees growing upstream, downstream and along the embankment, the consent order states.

Subsequent information was sent to the homeowners stipulating that they monitor the dam and report all findings to MDE. By Aug. 1, in coordination with the agency’s Dam Safety Inspection and Compliance Division, homeowners must test conditions in the lake, and prepare an emergency action plan in the event the dam fails.

By June 15, 2025, residents must hire an engineering firm to prepare designs and plans for the repair or the removal of the dam and reservoir, and by Sept. 15, 2025, an engineering plan must be in place that addresses the removal of trees and wooded vegetation.

A deadline of June 15, 2026, has been given to the homeowners to complete the work.

“We are at a loss as to why we are included in this matter,” Sullivan states in a June 29 letter to May. “We do not own any part or parcel of this pond. Our property abuts the easement surrounding the pond but ends at least 20 feet from the maximum water level line.

“… You are asking us, and others, to sign a consent order for something that we have no legal ownership of or responsibility for,” he states. “We will not sign the consent order or participate financially in any repairs the pond may need.”

Mike Watson and Nicole Gasper, whose house sits on Aspen Drive, own what they say is a “small” portion of the lake on the southern end. Watson said they do not own any part of the dam and should not pay to repair it.

“We did cut some trees down, but for me to cut more trees down would be trespassing,” he said. “The other [residents] own nothing. Nobody in their right mind would sign any portion of that consent order.”

Watson said that the construction of the dam, lake and homes that surround it, date back to the 1970s. A development firm, known as Pinnacle, built what is known as Aspen Run. Pinnacle is no longer in business. Its owner, Ralph Rigler, died in 2003, according to his obituary.

Watson said the state should force Rigler’s children to pay for the repairs.

“The state’s not going after them,” he said. “I’m 77 years old. We moved here to retire. We want to live out our life here. Find his heirs.”

Watson’s attorney, Bruce Bereano, said he he’s been fighting MDE over the issue for several years. He described MDE and the Maryland Attorney General’s Office as “deaf, dumb and blind to the issue.”

Bereano said he’s angry.

“They sent a letter to [seven] people telling them we will bring the roof down on you,” he said. “I’m extremely angry, and sick and tired of them terrorizing ordinary citizens. I’m enraged.”

Bereano stated in a July 9 letter to May, that he’s “completely sick and tired of the bullying and scare tactics being used by [MDE] and the attorney general’s office against [his] clients and other Carroll County citizens and residents who live on a lake and dam they never built, do not own and have absolutely no legal or statutory obligation to be responsible for.”