Army Engineers Block Florida Golf Course
Despite some high-powered political help, a controversial golf course development near the Everglades that would have destroyed thousands of acres of wetlands has been rejected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The corps, which rarely denies wetland permits in Florida, concluded the Mirasol development near Bonita Springs would cause "significant adverse impacts" to the state's dwindling wetlands as well to water quality and Everglades wildlife habitat.
Wednesday's decision comes after a string of legal setbacks for the corps: Three federal judges this year overturned permits to destroy Florida wetlands for development and mining.
"The corps has been losing in the courts, and they can't afford to take another hit," said Ann Hauck, a Bonita Springs activist who founded the Council of Civic Associations.
But Col. Robert Carpenter, who oversees the corps in Florida, said the court rulings had nothing to do with the decision. "I deny every permit that should be denied," he said.
The corps issues more permits in Florida for wetlands destruction than in any other state. Between 1999 and 2003, the corps approved more than 12,000 wetlands permits.
It rejected one.
But this year, the corps has been more aggressive, rejecting six since May, the most since 1994.
State and federal law requires wetlands to be protected because they provide flood protection, clean pollution, recharge drinking water and provide wildlife habitat. Federal officials have vowed for 15 years that there would be no net loss of wetlands.
But between 1990 and 2003, about 84,000 acres of Florida wetlands were lost to development, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis of satellite imagery.
Although the corps almost always says yes, developers say it takes the agency too long to make a decision. The Mirasol permit was under review for three years, Carpenter said.
Usually the corps allows developers to destroys wetlands that are a few acres or less. Mirasol would have destroyed far more than most.
Mirasol was supposed to be built on 1,766 acres near Bonita Springs, 1,500 acres of which was wetlands. The developer, Virginia coal-mining company owner J.D. Nicewonder, proposed two 18-hole golf courses and nearly 800 homes there, wiping out 587 acres of swamps.
A key part of the development was a 3-mile-long, 200-foot-wide ditch to funnel stormwater around Mirasol's houses and three other Collier County developments, dumping into a canal.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials warned that the ditch was likely to drain an additional 2,000 acres nearby, opening it up for development. Two months ago they said the corps' handling of the project "raised fundamental concerns" with the way it issues permits.
Nicewonder can appeal the denial to Carpenter's superiors, or resubmit plans without the ditch. Neither he nor his attorney, Stephen Walker, returned calls seeking comment.
Until Wednesday, the project appeared one step away from breaking ground. Gov. Jeb Bush's environmental regulators approved the project. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and former U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, helped push it along with letters and meetings involving federal agencies. A federal biologist who raised questions was removed from the project and fired.
The head of the South Florida Water Management District urged the corps to approve the development because the ditch would protect the region from flooding caused by other development that destroyed wetlands.
As the area around Bonita Springs boomed in the 1990s, the corps issued permits to erase nearly 4,000 acres of wetlands in the western Everglades. It ordered the creation of less than 500 acres, resulting in huge net losses of wetlands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say.
The new roads and subdivisions choked off wetland sloughs that carried away excess water. In 1995, heavy rains led to flooding that forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate.
One of the remaining sloughs runs along the Mirasol site. So Nicewonder proposed the ditch to funnel floodwater away. The ditch alone would wipe out 97 acres of wetlands - including 30 acres of cypress swamp preserved as compensation for wetlands destroyed by another development.
Water district officials counted the ditch as mitigation for wiping out nearly 500 acres of wetlands for the houses and golf courses.
But EPA officials said flooding could be controlled without destroying wetlands. Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Andy Eller warned that the ditch could drain nearby Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an 11,000-acre Audubon preserve and crucial habitat to the endangered wood stork.
Faced with such tough questions, the developer called in some powerful help. Records show staffers for Nelson and Goss, now the CIA director, called the EPA's southeast administrator about the project and offered to set up a meeting with the developers.
Nelson's staff also arranged a meeting between the developer and top South Florida wildlife officials. Eller was not invited. He said he was chastised by his bosses for objecting to the project.
"They said I needed to be sensitive to the politics of the office," Eller said. He was taken off the project and later fired after going public with his complaints. He sued and was reinstated, but now works at a national wildlife refuge in Kentucky.
Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said his boss welcomed the corps decision, no matter what it was, and denied political pressure was used.
The corps, which rarely denies wetland permits in Florida, concluded the Mirasol development near Bonita Springs would cause "significant adverse impacts" to the state's dwindling wetlands as well to water quality and Everglades wildlife habitat.
Wednesday's decision comes after a string of legal setbacks for the corps: Three federal judges this year overturned permits to destroy Florida wetlands for development and mining.
"The corps has been losing in the courts, and they can't afford to take another hit," said Ann Hauck, a Bonita Springs activist who founded the Council of Civic Associations.
But Col. Robert Carpenter, who oversees the corps in Florida, said the court rulings had nothing to do with the decision. "I deny every permit that should be denied," he said.
The corps issues more permits in Florida for wetlands destruction than in any other state. Between 1999 and 2003, the corps approved more than 12,000 wetlands permits.
It rejected one.
But this year, the corps has been more aggressive, rejecting six since May, the most since 1994.
State and federal law requires wetlands to be protected because they provide flood protection, clean pollution, recharge drinking water and provide wildlife habitat. Federal officials have vowed for 15 years that there would be no net loss of wetlands.
But between 1990 and 2003, about 84,000 acres of Florida wetlands were lost to development, according to a St. Petersburg Times analysis of satellite imagery.
Although the corps almost always says yes, developers say it takes the agency too long to make a decision. The Mirasol permit was under review for three years, Carpenter said.
Usually the corps allows developers to destroys wetlands that are a few acres or less. Mirasol would have destroyed far more than most.
Mirasol was supposed to be built on 1,766 acres near Bonita Springs, 1,500 acres of which was wetlands. The developer, Virginia coal-mining company owner J.D. Nicewonder, proposed two 18-hole golf courses and nearly 800 homes there, wiping out 587 acres of swamps.
A key part of the development was a 3-mile-long, 200-foot-wide ditch to funnel stormwater around Mirasol's houses and three other Collier County developments, dumping into a canal.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials warned that the ditch was likely to drain an additional 2,000 acres nearby, opening it up for development. Two months ago they said the corps' handling of the project "raised fundamental concerns" with the way it issues permits.
Nicewonder can appeal the denial to Carpenter's superiors, or resubmit plans without the ditch. Neither he nor his attorney, Stephen Walker, returned calls seeking comment.
Until Wednesday, the project appeared one step away from breaking ground. Gov. Jeb Bush's environmental regulators approved the project. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and former U.S. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Sanibel, helped push it along with letters and meetings involving federal agencies. A federal biologist who raised questions was removed from the project and fired.
The head of the South Florida Water Management District urged the corps to approve the development because the ditch would protect the region from flooding caused by other development that destroyed wetlands.
As the area around Bonita Springs boomed in the 1990s, the corps issued permits to erase nearly 4,000 acres of wetlands in the western Everglades. It ordered the creation of less than 500 acres, resulting in huge net losses of wetlands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say.
The new roads and subdivisions choked off wetland sloughs that carried away excess water. In 1995, heavy rains led to flooding that forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate.
One of the remaining sloughs runs along the Mirasol site. So Nicewonder proposed the ditch to funnel floodwater away. The ditch alone would wipe out 97 acres of wetlands - including 30 acres of cypress swamp preserved as compensation for wetlands destroyed by another development.
Water district officials counted the ditch as mitigation for wiping out nearly 500 acres of wetlands for the houses and golf courses.
But EPA officials said flooding could be controlled without destroying wetlands. Meanwhile, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Andy Eller warned that the ditch could drain nearby Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, an 11,000-acre Audubon preserve and crucial habitat to the endangered wood stork.
Faced with such tough questions, the developer called in some powerful help. Records show staffers for Nelson and Goss, now the CIA director, called the EPA's southeast administrator about the project and offered to set up a meeting with the developers.
Nelson's staff also arranged a meeting between the developer and top South Florida wildlife officials. Eller was not invited. He said he was chastised by his bosses for objecting to the project.
"They said I needed to be sensitive to the politics of the office," Eller said. He was taken off the project and later fired after going public with his complaints. He sued and was reinstated, but now works at a national wildlife refuge in Kentucky.
Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin said his boss welcomed the corps decision, no matter what it was, and denied political pressure was used.
posted by John at
10:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home