Developer settles wetlands complaint
A Newport News, Virginia site will revert to
natural state;
fine will be paid
A
developer has agreed to re-establish 26 acres of wetlands in Newport News and
pay a $250,000 fine to settle legal disputes with the federal and state
governments.
Newdunn
Associates LLP of Norfolk, the developer, and two of its contractors who filled
in the wetlands near Interstate 64 in 2001 without obtaining federal and state
permits, will allow the land to revert to its natural state under a settlement
announced yesterday.
Federal
and state officials hailed the agreement as an affirmation of the Clean Water
Act and the government's ability to enforce regulations that protect the
environment.
"This
. . . strengthens Virginia's wetlands protection efforts," state
Department of Environmental Quality Director Robert G. Burnley said in a news
release.
Newdunn's
lawyer, Douglas Kahle, said his clients were left with "no viable
alternative" but to settle after they were unsuccessful in taking their
case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Newdunn's
challenge to wetlands regulations was upheld in U.S. District Court but later
overruled by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. The Supreme
Court then declined to hear Newdunn's appeal of that ruling.
"Needless
to say, Newdunn was disappointed," Kahle said.
In
its legal battle, Newdunn had contended that the marshy ground it had filled in
was an "isolated wetland" not connected to navigable water and not
covered by the Clean Water Act and similar state environmental laws.
Kahle,
a fiery advocate for property owners' rights and a lessening of regulation,
said yesterday that the 4th Circuit's interpretation of the law means that
"literally any ditch anywhere in the country is subject to federal
regulation."
Newdunn's
infraction came as the developer, which had owned the land in question for
years, took steps to develop 40 acres between Interstate 64 and Jefferson
Avenue not far south of Fort Eustis Boulevard.
Kahle
said Newdunn will hold on to the land as an investment property.
Of
the $250,000 fine, $150,000 will go toward environmental restoration projects
in Virginia, officials said.
DEQ
spokesman Bill Hayden said $15,000 will go to the state's emergency cleanup
fund, $45,000 will go to a nonprofit group called Wetlands Watch, and $90,000
will be spent on the restoration of wetlands on the Elizabeth River.
Contact
Andrew Petkofsky at (757) 229-1512 or apetkofsky@timesdispatch.com
Julie
M. Sibbing
Senior
Program Manager for Agriculture and Wetlands Policy
National
Wildlife Federation
1400
16th St. N.W., Suite 501
Washington,
DC 20036
(202)
797-6832
fax
(202) 797-6646
sibbing@nwf.org
www.nwf.org
NWF's
mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future.
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