[Green] Williamstown Wetlands

Thu Nov 19 13:41:17 CST 2020

Friends, I received this today from Eric Engle, president of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action. It’s gratifying how many people care about that little “swamp!” More good news:

Good Afternoon, 

The following was just submitted to me by Autumn Crowe with WV Rivers Coalition: 

“ Yes, permits are required for any impact to wetlands. The State just changed their mitigation requirements depending on the quality of the wetland. But any impacts to over 1/10 of an acre require a permit and mitigation to restore, preserve or replace wetlands. The state has a policy of no net loss of wetlands. Part of their permit will require a wetland delineation to determine how much of the wetland will be impacted. 

You can view DEP's wetland map here: https://tagis.dep.wv.gov/wvdep_gis_viewer/ In the layer list check the box for wetland function and check all sub-boxes underneath it by clicking on the dropdown arrow next to wetland function box. The wetland function score and the acreage of impacts will determine how much mitigation is required.

You can also contact the environmental advocates office. For this issue, I'd recommend John King John.M.S.King at wv.gov who lives in the greater Parkersburg area, to see if a permit has been submitted yet. It's really hard to get any details on the project until they submit a permit.  

I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.”

I would encourage concerned residents of Williamstown and Boaz and the surrounding area to contact John King to see if a permit application has been submitted yet. I would also encourage folks to contact Delegate Bill Anderson of House of Delegates District 08 who represents the area and State Senators Donna Boley and Mike Azinger, as this appears to be a state matter, with your concerns. Contacting the WVDEP in opposition may be worthwhile as well. 

*****

—dawn

Sent from my iPad

> On Nov 19, 2020, at 10:44 AM, Little Kanawha <littlekanawharcd at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Thank you for this
>  
> From: Barbara Stewart [mailto:barbhoney at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2020 2:33 PM
> To: Julie Zickefoose <juliezickefoose at gmail.com>
> Cc: Brent Bailey <Brent at wvlandtrust.org>; D J Allen <dj.allen at lkrcd.com>; D J Allen <dnrallen at zoominternet.net>; Dawn Hewitt <hewitt at earth-maker.com>; EDIE LINDLEY <bontree at hotmail.com>; Green Sanctuary List for Environment Issues <green at fuusm.org>; Kittie Clark <kittier2 at gmail.com>; Little Kanawha <littlekanawharcd at hotmail.com>; Marcy Wesel <wesel62 at sbcglobal.net>; Michael Schramm <michael_schramm at fws.gov>; Pam Cannon <pam.cannon at suddenlink.net>; Pat Calebaugh <kbcalebaugh at hotmail.com>; Sheila Jackson <sheilajackson5 at gmail.com>; Shila Wilson <janet.shila.wilson at att.net>; Steve <steve.mccarthy at realliving.com>
> Subject: Re: Williamstown Wetlands
>  
> From today’s paper. Article on the meeting of Williamstown City Council last night.
>  
> <image001.jpg>
>  
>  
> On Wed, Nov 18, 2020 at 11:38 AM Julie Zickefoose <juliezickefoose at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Dawn,
>  
>  I'll confess, I skipped the city council meeting because the agenda didn't look promising to me. I, too, find the Facebook commenters on "You Might Be from Williamstown If" page  very discouraging. It's pretty clear to me that Bender has quite a coterie of admirers who are circling the wagons for just such objections as they will get from us. Maybe it does make sense to make pre-emptive strikes on ACOE (as I did with Manchin's office) to let them know we're out here and watching, and we want the wetlands protected. It may be akin to appealing to the fox to take good care of the henhouse, but we need to do it. And let's not forget that WV Land Trust is out there, willing to help if purchasing the wetland is even a possibility. I highly doubt that anyone has ever offered to buy it from her. Maybe she'd sell. Just crazy enough, it might work. Especially if she hits regulatory bumps. The trick is going to be seeing if there ARE regulatory bumps for her to hit, given tRumps de-fanging of the Clean Water Act. Mitigation, if enforced, could run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not over a million. How deep are her pockets? How to find out from ACOE if mitigation would be invoked? Anybody know anyone there?
>  
>  Heavy irony: the wetlands is the largest photo on the Williamstown city website banner. So somebody there doesn't see it entirely as a mosquito factory.
>  
> I sure appreciate your legwork on this. 
>  
> Julie
>  
> On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 10:48 PM Dawn Hewitt <hewitt at earth-maker.com> wrote:
> Friends,
> 
> Since the Williamstown City Council meeting was kind of a but this evening, I spent some time trying to track down the implications of the 2020 version of the Clean Water Act. Until a few years ago, it was clear that wetlands such as Williamstown’s fell under the Clean Water Act (Section 404). Today, with a revision to the act that took effect in September, I’m not so sure. 
> 
> Apparently, in order to fill the wetlands, Ms. Bender will still need to apply for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. There may be a public comment period, but my experience with the Army Corps is notices of such are not always published in the LOCAL newspaper. 
> 
> Even when the Clean Water Act had real teeth, the issue of whether wetlands were included in it was contentious, and even made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. But now, I gather that the Army Corps issues permits for filling wetlands more easily than it once did, and has turned over much of the regulation and oversight to the states (Section 401). 
> 
> What our side of the issue has in its favor is that Ms. Bender is not planning to fill the wetlands for purposes of agriculture or some sort of natural area restoration. Filling a wetlands (with year-round standing water, closer than 4,000 feet to a navigable river) to pave it and build a casino might well require a permit and possibly mitigation ($$$$). I think we would be wise to express our appreciation of the wetlands to the Army Corps of Engineers and to the WV Department of Environmental Protection, noting the services it provides not only to wildlife, but to water purification, channeling stormwater, green space… well, you know. 
> 
> I hope others will delve into the revised federal Clean Water Act as well as West Virginia laws and regulations governing wetlands. Also, we should encourage and facilitate Williamstown City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals to be aware of state and federal laws protecting wetlands.
> 
> And if you haven’t been to the “You Might Be From Williamstown, WV, if….” Facebook group, I encourage you to do so. There are an awful lot of people responding to Fred Canon’s post saying “It’s Chris Bender’s land. She can do with it what she wants. This is America! This is capitalism!” or else “That swamp just breeds mosquitoes! Fill it!” It’s really discouraging. 
> 
> I wonder if wetlands provide any benefits to bees?
> 
> —dawn
> 
>  
> --
> Julie Zickefoose
> Artist/author
>  
> 
> Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay                  2019
> Baby Birds: An Artist Looks Into the Nest                                   2016
> The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds With Common Birds   2012
> Letters from Eden: A Year at Home, In the Woods                      2006
>  
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