EPA Pulls Protection Plan: Cities, Developers Objected to Construction Limits
By Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Jul. 1–A state plan to shield the Olentangy River from further pollution has been shelved after complaints that new rules would cripple development in Delaware County.
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency wanted to push new construction hundreds of feet from sections of the Olentangy and its Whetstone Creek tributary to limit the amount of dirt and chemicals that wash off new businesses and homes during storms.
Such debris already has hurt the stream and the wildlife it supports, experts say.
Agency officials wanted the protections to help preserve the stream south of the Delaware Dam, a habitat for fish including the threatened bluebreast darter.
The proposal was floated in March, but EPA Director Chris Korleski said recently that his agency will come up with a new plan after hearing complaints from developers and officials from Delaware County, the cities of Delaware and Powell, and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission. There was a public hearing in late April.
Proposed restrictions could have killed plans to build as many as 2,500 homes, offices and businesses in the southeastern section of the city of Delaware, officials said.
“This proposal would have, in some cases, completely banned the growth we were counting on,” said Lee Yoakum, a city spokesman.
Delaware built a $15 million sewer line expecting that sewage fees from new homes and businesses would help pay for it, said David Efland, the city’s community development director.
At the same time, environmental advocates said they are concerned that the EPA will let more pollution seep into the Olentangy.
“We’re definitely worried about the health of the river,” said Kristy Meyer of the Ohio Environmental Council.
Those worries are focused on a 22-mile, state-designated scenic section of the river between the Delaware Dam and Old Wilson Bridge Road in Worthington.
Although EPA officials consider it an “exceptional habitat” for fish, a 2004 study found a decline in species that breed in rocky streambeds.
Bluebreast and other darters made up 43 percent of all fish species found near Highbanks Metro Park in 1999. That dropped to 13 percent in 2004, said Holly Tucker, an Ohio EPA biologist.
The agency linked the decline to dirt and chemicals from construction sites and homes being built in Delaware County, the fastest-growing in Ohio.
The county’s population grew from 111,739 in 2000 to 156,697 in 2006, according to U.S. Census estimates.
About 11,900 homes have been built in the county since 2000, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission says.
Ohio EPA plans would have forced developers to build at least 100 feet from the river’s smallest tributaries. The distance would have been greater for larger tributaries and the river itself.
Efland said the plans would have pushed construction 900 feet from the Olentangy. Gregg Sablak, an Ohio EPA coordinator, said it would have been more like 780 feet.
Mike Shade, an attorney for developers, said the proposal would have cut Stockdale Farms, a planned subdivision, from 371 homes to 281.
“This is the government taking land without paying due compensation,” Shade said.
The proposed protections for the Olentangy are similar to those the Ohio EPA already has in place for the ecologically sensitive Big Darby Creek, just west of Columbus.
But Shade and Efland said the Olentangy isn’t the Darby, a naturally flowing stream. The Delaware Dam has altered the Olentangy dramatically, they said.
Korleski said that helped convince him that a new plan is needed.
Meyer said the Environmental Council will push for strong protections in public hearings that will be held after a new plan is proposed.
“We will definitely be part of these discussions,” she said.
shunt@dispatch.com
—–
To see more of The Columbus Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbusdispatch.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.