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<br /> Acre-made-for-an-acre-lost
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<br /> requirement qrement doesn't hold water
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<br /> By Norman Draper As a result,state and federal regula- the Corps of Engineers and the DNR
<br /> Staff Writer tors can boast that new or better rarely resort to them,preferring in-
<br /> wetlands should have been created in stead to negotiate a developer into
<br /> Birch Run Station is where both wet- the wake of big projects that collec- compliance.
<br /> lands and the law got dumped on. tively devoured hundreds of acres of
<br /> Wetlands. Mitigation was basic and generic in
<br /> Three-and-a-half acres of wetlands its early days. It often entailed noth-
<br /> were destroyed when the strip mall Studies to find out how mitigation is ing more than a big hole being
<br /> was built in Maplewood in 1989. working are underway.The Environ- scooped out of the ground. But Corps
<br /> Despite assurances from the develop- mental Protection Agency(EPA), of Engineers officials and private
<br /> ers that they would replace what they which can veto Corps of Engineers consultants say those days are gone.
<br /> had paved over, that was never done. wetlands permits,recently awarded They contend that mitigation can
<br /> the Minnesota office of the National succeed if the site is properly graded
<br /> And because of an oversight by wet- Audubon Society a grant to perform and the right soils and plants are
<br /> lands regulators, a$75,000 line of one such study. It will take four used. Regulators and wildlife biolo-
<br /> . credit set up to hold the developers years. gists who work with developers say
<br /> to their promises expired without they are trying harder to tailor the
<br /> anyone getting a penny of it. f:1-just don't know what's going on," mitigation to the type of wetland lost.
<br /> said Ted Rockwell,EPA's director of
<br /> The mall, formerly called Maple- Minnesota operations."I'm con- "We dug a lot of duck ponds back in
<br /> wood Crossing, is one of the Twin • cerned that not enough followup is the'80s,"said Steve Eggers,an ecolo-
<br /> Cities'most tarnished monuments to ' being done." gist with the Corps of Engineers'St.
<br /> mitigation,the federal requirement Paul district."That didn't take into
<br /> that for every acre of wetland filled,a But unofficial observations reveal account the specific functions and
<br /> new or improved one must be creat- that there are plenty of problems values of the different wetlands being
<br /> ed nearby. with mitigation. lost."
<br /> It shows that despite a raft of state Paul Burke,a wildlife biologist with Wetlands were never re-created at
<br /> and federal wetlands laws and regula- the Twin Cities field office of the Birch Run,northwest of the intersec-
<br /> .tions,developers have sometimes U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,has tion of Kennard St.and Beam Av,
<br /> ad too free a hand to do as they viewed as many as 100 mitigation The Corps of Engineers issued a wet-
<br /> leased. It also shows that regulators sites in the Twin Cities in the past land fill permit to the mall's develop-
<br /> . sometimes don't pay enough five years. He said about one-quarter el-.Michigan-based Maplewood
<br /> attention. of the efforts were poor or nonexis- Crossing Limited Partnership.with
<br /> tent,and another quarter were good. the understandingthat a mitigation
<br /> in addition, those in charge of moni- g
<br /> toring mitigation compliance in the The remaining half were somewhere plan would be forthcoming.
<br /> Twin Cities area do not know how in between, he said.
<br /> many efforts have failed, workedAnd mitigation remains unproven, When the partnership's parent Corn-
<br /> well,or not been done at all. pany,Weatherford/Walker Develop-
<br /> more art than science.The idea that ments Inc.,was slow in developing
<br /> humans can duplicate nature's handi- an acceptable miti ati
<br /> Mitigation sites can range from a work in less than a fraction of na- P g plan,the
<br /> small lake anchoring a housing devel- Corps of Engineers agreed to give the
<br /> ture's time has created plenty ofopmencompanymore time. Eventually,and
<br /> afreew in Oakdale to a pond inside skepticism about mitigation's value, despite a warning from a federal
<br /> Hwee 39y4 ramp at the interchange.
<br /> even amongfederal and state wildlife official that the amount was
<br /> Hwy. 394-Hwy. 100 interchange.
<br /> Some have been carefully excavated officials. too low to ensure compliance,the
<br /> and landscaped.Others were de- Corps of Engineers accepted a
<br /> signed with too little attention paid "It's like asking an engineering team $75,000 letter of credit issued by the
<br /> to replacing the proper soils and veg- to design the Columbia shuttle.and Bank of Michigan on behalf of the
<br /> elation.Some are merely scooped- saying,`Oh,by the way.you've got a developer to ensure compliance with
<br /> month to do it,'" Rockwell said. ,
<br /> out holes in the earth that fill with mitigation requirements. ,
<br /> water.Occasionally,as with Birch
<br /> Run Station,the mitigation isn't Federal mitigation evolved informal- But •beset by financial hardships,th
<br /> Iv after 1977 amendments to the
<br /> done. partnership and Weatherford/Walkei
<br /> Clean Water Act provided for the collapsed before doing the required''.
<br /> • Projects that destroy sizable amounts protection of the nation's wetlands. It mitigation.The mall went into forea
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<br /> of wetlands are required by the U.S. became more common after 1986. closure and is now run by an Eden
<br /> Army Corps of Engineers and thewhen mitigation regulations were I Prairie property manager who knoWls
<br /> state Department of Natural Re-
<br /> . first spelled out. For projects that fill nothing about any wetlands mitiga.
<br /> sources(DNR)to include mitigation more than an acre of wetland,the tion plan.The deadline for the line'of
<br /> plans.Since the late 1980s,dozens of Corps of Engineers requires at least credit expired two years ago. -""
<br /> •rojects that have involved filling an acre of mitigation for every acre of �t
<br /> etro area wetlands for roads, wetland filled. State mitigation re- "Our attorney has basically said
<br /> ouses,golf courses and other put- quirements,which are less specific, we're screwed,"said Tim Fell,the .,
<br /> poses have done so only on the con- date from the early 1970s. Corps of Engineers'environmental'•
<br /> dition that they replace what they've specialist charged with monitoring "
<br /> destroyed. Although both state and federal law I the project."Part of the problem is';'
<br /> provide for fines and jail sentences. mine.I didn't bird-dog it enough."
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