The
Toledo Blade
www.toledoblade.com
State fears
Lake Erie marsh is endangered
July
24, 2000
A marsh
filled with plants, birds, and other wildlife could be
threatened if an irrigation dike is built on private property
near the nature preserve, state and local officials said.
An
emergency meeting will be held Wednesday to discuss environmental
concerns about the dike, which is being built by a nursery on a
private wetland west of the Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve.
The
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers organized the meeting and site visit
after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and Ohio Department
of Natural Resources called the Corps' Buffalo office to ask about
the project.
Some
residents and officials fear the dike construction could have a
negative impact on the marsh and its habitat.
The
state nature preserve, created in 1980, is popular with birdwatchers,
and has one of the last remaining undeveloped stretches of shoreline
along Sandusky Bay.
It's
a delicate ecosystem,'' said Heather Lauer, an EPA spokeswoman.
"What this would have done is funnel some of the water away
from the ecosystem. . . We have a lot of migrating waterfowl. We
have a lot of endangered species who depend on it."
Barnes
Nursery & Garden Center, Inc., of Huron, which owns the property
next to the 587-acre state marsh, recently began construction on
the irrigation dike that would extend several hundred feet into
Lake Erie.
Nursery
owner Bob Barnes did not return phone calls seeking comment. The
family-owned nursery received approval for the project from the
Corps, said Philip Frapwell, chief of the agency's enforcement division
in Buffalo.
But Mr.
Frapwell said Mr. Barnes has agreed to stop construction until the
meeting. "He has agreed to meet with me and, until we can assess
the situation, we don't know whether any violation has occurred,"
Mr. Frapwell said. "We're going to go out and take a look at
it."
Ms.
Lauer said state EPA officials believe the Corps should not have
granted Mr. Barnes the type of permit it did. She said the nursery
received a nationwide permit, which Ohio stopped accepting several
months ago for a Class 3 wetland.
The
Barnes property, as well as the adjoining marsh, are Class 3 wetlands.
That means the habitat in the area is considered rare, Ms. Lauer
said.
Gary
Obermiller, local manager for the state's Division of Natural Areas
and Preserves, said Mr. Barnes called him last week to discuss the
project.
"He
just wanted to inform me and I appreciate it," Mr. Obermiller
said. "But it was after the fact. Construction had already
started."
State
officials were upset because they weren't told about the project
when the permit application was filed with the Corps, Mr. Obermiller
said. Mr. Frapwell said the Corps is not required to notify adjoining
property owners in the case of nationwide permits.
Mr.
Obermiller said he would like to have the opportunity to discuss
the project with Mr. Barnes. One of his concerns is that sediment
from the dike construction will filter into the preserve's marsh,
which is filled in places with up to 10 inches of clear water.
"We
are concerned about the activity. We have to lay our emotions aside.
It's not that we wish to deny Barnes Nursery access to water. We
just want to protect the quality and health of the marsh,"
he said. "All we're looking to do is make sure the development
or the project is constructed in a way that protects our interest.
We want to protect the quality of the marsh."
