COVINGTON, Ga. – A stop work order has been issued on the Covington Town Center project, located on City Pond Road and Highway 142, after trees were removed beyond the approved areas, which allowed sediment into a state waterway.

The contractor on the project removed trees within state water buffers that were meant to be saved and sediment made its way into a a small, unnamed steam, Covington Public Relations Manager Trey Sanders said.

It is up to the project’s contractors to submit a remediation plan to the city for approval before work can start again. Sanders estimated the process could take about two weeks.

“Obviously, they’re anxious to get started again,” he said.

The city is enforcing the stop work order on behalf of the state, but it is also a City of Covington ordinance.

He said city staff regularly checks in on projects to make sure approved plans are being followed.