Panel acts as if stream rules don’t apply
By KEN MIDKIFF
Published Friday, January 30, 2009
(http://www.columbiatribune.com/2009/Jan/20090130Comm002.asp)

The Current River is held in high esteem by Central Missouri residents, has been the site of many float trips by Columbia residents and has been designated by Congress as one of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, with a corridor managed by the National Park Service. It belongs to all U.S. citizens - from Maine to California, from Florida to Washington.

Apparently, however, the Shannon County Commission views the Current River as "just another creek" in its destruction wreaked on a long section of Big Creek, a tributary of the Current River. The commission channelized about 1,000 yards of Big Creek, constructed several "wing dams" of dirt, rock and logs, and piled gravel about 20 feet high along the stream banks. All of this was done while working on a road or roads through private property (without permission of the owners).

Adding insult to this injury is the claim of Shannon County Commissioner Dale Counts: "We didn’t know we had to get a federal permit."

If this statement is true, Counts was ignorant of federal law (which is highly unlikely) and needs to be reminded: "Ignorance is no excuse."

For example, if you get pulled over by a state trooper for tooling along at 90 mph on one of our state highways or interstates, it is highly unlikely that claiming, "Gee, I didn’t know there was a speed limit" will get you off the hook. You were speeding; ignorance of the law is no excuse, and you’d be issued a ticket.

The Clean Water Act specifies in Section 404 that no in-stream activity can occur without such a permit (issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) and without a Section 401 (Water Quality Certification) issued by the state agency (in this case, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources). But the Shannon County Commission had no legally required 404 permit and certainly no Section 401 Water Quality Certification. Instead, the Shannon County Commission ignored federal law, channelized Big Creek, erected several wing dams, used creek gravel to construct berms and cut several roads through private property (LAD Foundation/Roger Pryor Backcountry lands).

The Shannon County Commission is not above the law. It must abide by federal requirements. It did not.

On Jan. 21, shortly after this was brought to my attention, I filed a complaint with the Little Rock Army Corps of Engineers (the corps’ district with jurisdiction over Big Creek), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The EPA responded immediately, and it is my understanding that the Corps of Engineers made a site inspection last Friday. Joe Bindbeutel, acting director of DNR, sent a letter saying DNR would investigate and coordinate with the corps to conduct a joint effort. DNR officials, as well as representatives of the landowners, were present at the Corps of Engineers’ site inspection last Friday.

After submitting the complaint, I sent a message to the Little Rock Corps of Engineers district’s person in charge of regulation, saying it is hoped that substantial fines and penalties would be imposed and that the Shannon County Commission would undo what it has done by restoring Big Creek to its original configuration. In a subsequent phone conversation, I was informed that both would occur.

In usual circumstances, the Corps of Engineers composes a draft 404 permit and sends this out broadly for public comment. After the comment period expires, the corps responds to those comments and, in some cases, modifies the permit. But because no permit was issued, the public had no opportunity to comment on this activity, and, consequently, the Shannon County Commission had its way with Big Creek.

To add one more insult to the injury done to Big Creek, Tony Orchard, the presiding commissioner of Shannon County, was quoted in an article on this travesty in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan. 28 as saying, "Some people are just going to get carried away if you move a piece of grass the wrong way."

Although that is a silly statement, the facts are that tons of material were removed from Big Creek without any federal permit and without permission of the private landowner. Comparing a "piece of grass" to massive amounts of sand and gravel is more than silly: It is ludicrous.

Many people worked many hours to ensure the highest protections for the Current River watershed. Each year, the Scenic Rivers Stream Team conducts a trash cleanup in the Current River watershed, does water quality assessment and monitors for illegal activity.

By their actions, the Shannon County commissioners have chosen to trash those citizen efforts.

President Barack Obama has called for all citizens to provide service to their county. Instead of providing such a service, the Shannon County Commission has degraded one of our nation’s finest natural resources.

This sort of renegade behavior cannot go unchallenged.