PITTSBURG — Hillside work by a Contra Costa County developer with a history of environmental violations appears to have proceeded without approval from the city and the Department of Fish and Game.

Since January, the California Department of Fish and Game and Pittsburg have been investigating the reshaping of the hills on the western portion of the San Marco subdivision last year by Albert Seeno III's Discovery Builders, including the possible destruction of a seasonal stream.

An inspection by the Times of all Pittsburg grading permits pertaining to San Marco's buildout found no current documentation of approval by city engineers for work on the western part of the development. The search found grading permits from completed sections of the subdivision, the last one expiring in 2003.

The search also found a 1997 agreement between Albert Seeno Jr.'s West Coast Home Builders and the Department of Fish and Game that allowed some fill work on wetlands provided that a new, larger wetlands be created. However, that permit expired in December 2005.

Seeno officials contend they followed the law in their grading. Last month, a Seeno spokesman said the grading was in accordance with permits issued by Pittsburg and all appropriate regulatory agencies. Seeno attorney Bill Goodman echoed that sentiment this week.

In a voice message, Goodman said the Seeno companies "believe that they have been in compliance with all applicable laws.

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We are not going to provide any comment beyond that." Calls to his office were not returned Friday.

Inquiries to obtain permit information from Discovery Builders went unanswered.

Pittsburg City Engineer Joe Sbranti said that no significant new details have emerged since staff started looking into the matter. There is "no record of any valid permit" under which Seeno was operating, Sbranti said.

Sbranti said city engineers, in conjunction with the Fish and Game investigation, are examining the original development agreement to see whether the language gives Seeno the right to grade the hillside, adding he doesn't believe it does.

Language in the March 1990 development agreement between Pittsburg and Seeno's Seecon Financial Construction Co. allows for some permitted grading but says the project would require grading in excess of what is permitted under applicable hillside regulations.

In the agreement, the city said additional grading would be handled through its "normal property development process."

A 2001 amendment to the agreement extended the contract's duration to Oct. 1, 2020, but no additional language in that or subsequent amendments pertaining to permits was specifically mentioned.

Nicole Kozicki, a warden with the Department of Fish and Game, said the investigation includes not only permit violations but whether Seeno improperly altered the streambed and caused erosion with the grading.

The 1997 agreement said work was to be confined between April 15 and Oct. 1. However, Kozicki said she discovered the fresh grading last winter while driving on Highway 4.

Other permits for grading the streambed are issued by the Army Corps of Engineers and state Department of Water Resources. Thus far, those agencies have found the permits to be expired as well, Kozicki said.

Kozicki said Fish and Game has discussed the case with both the state Attorney General's office and county District Attorney's office, and hopes to have the majority of the investigation completed by the end of this month.

The penalty for depositing soil into waters of the state and/or altering a streambed without permits is $25,000 per civil violation and $1,000 and/or one year in jail per criminal misdemeanor, according to Kozicki.

The Seeno family of homebuilders has been investigated and fined multiple times over the past several years for environmental violations from its developments, including a $3 million settlement earlier this year concerning grading work at an Antioch subdivision.

In 2002, Albert Seeno Jr.'s West Coast Home Builders agreed to pay $1 million in fines and restitution for violating the federal Endangered Species Act for its 2001 killing of threatened red-legged frogs and deliberate destruction of frog habitat at San Marco.

Paul Burgarino covers Pittsburg and Bay Point. Reach him at 925-779-7164 or pburgarino@bayareanewsgroup.com.