Kilbuck Properties, the developer of a Wal-Mart-anchored shopping plaza in Kilbuck where a massive September landslide closed Route 65, has been assessed a penalty of $470,000 by the state and ordered to take action immediately to stabilize the property.

The Department of Environmental Protection imposed the $10,000-a-day penalty -- the maximum allowed by law -- saying the developer of the River Pointe shopping plaza hadn't complied with previous orders to submit a plan to stabilize the 75-acre site.

Yesterday's DEP order also established a strict timeline, performance standards and bi-weekly reporting requirements for the developer to follow to produce a site stability plan -- something it has failed to do in two engineering reports ordered by the department, and despite receiving a one-month extension for filing the first report.

"This is a wake-up call to Kilbuck Properties that they must take immediate, effective action to stabilize this property," said Kenneth Bowman, DEP regional director. "To date, the company's response has been wholly deficient and unacceptable and further delay cannot, and will not, be tolerated."

The Sept. 19 landslide that spilled off the plateau constructed for the shopping plaza dumped 500,000 cubic yards of dirt, rock and debris onto Route 65, covering all four lanes of the major commuter route for two weeks and blocking the main line of the Norfolk Southern railroad for three days.

The railroad tracks and three of the four lanes of the highway have reopened, but some of the fill material piled on the former Dixmont State Hospital site continues to move slowly toward the roadway so one lane has been kept closed as a precaution.

The first deadline established by the new order falls tomorrow, when Kilbuck Properties is required to submit a drilling plan for groundwater monitoring and design parameters for slope stability analysis. A permanent stabilization plan that meets state standards must be submitted by April 19, and the work to stabilize the property is to be completed by Oct. 31.

That timeline is considerably shorter than one proposed by the developer in its second engineering report, which said submission of a plan wasn't possible before June and work to stabilize the site would take another nine months.

The DEP said the latest order provides for monitoring and enforcement of the required company actions.

"The department is very frustrated with the progress of the developer and we are going to push them hard," said Helen Humphreys, a DEP spokeswoman. "We're going to monitor this every step of the way."

John Atwood, president of Kilbuck Properties, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Bob Keir, a leader of Communities First!, a group opposed to the development, said he doesn't think the developer can comply with the latest order and that the DEP isn't being tough enough on the developer or Wal-Mart, which owns 38 acres, about half of the site.

"The developer won't be able to comply, he's not going to get it done and the state will eventually have to step in to stabilize the hillside and send a bill to Wal-Mart and Kilbuck," Mr. Keir said.

Jim Davis, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said in a statement that the company is committed to stabilization of the property and to ensuring the safety of Kilbuck residents and Route 65 commuters.

"Wal-Mart strongly urges Kilbuck Properties to comply with the requests made by the Department of Environmental Protection in this order," Mr. Davis said.

A stabilization plan was originally due Nov. 1 but the deadline was extended a month at the developer's request to allow for the collection of more data on the unstable site.

That report was declared deficient by the DEP because, among other reasons, it contained no stabilization plan, and Kilbuck Properties was told to submit a second report, which it did on Dec. 21. The DEP also found that report deficient because it contained two options for site stabilization but no concrete plan.

The penalty is the maximum allowed under the state's Clean Streams Law -- $10,000 a day, starting on Dec. 2, for failure to comply with the DEP's Oct. 4 order to provide a permanent stabilization plan for the property along Route 65, also known as Ohio River Boulevard.

The assessment was filed with the state Environmental Hearing Board, which can take up to two years to finalize the penalty. Kilbuck Properties can contest the penalties but not the performance requirements of the order.