Opinions on what is there may differ, but what is known is that a portion of a large “debris pile” covered in dirt and vegetation is encroaching from private property and onto the eastern portion of the Fayetteville-owned Ridge Nature Area.
City officials and retired biologist Dennis Chase, while coming from different perspectives, are looking to state or federal agencies to propose a remedy. Meantime, representatives from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) will be visiting the site this week.
The property in question is located west of 1st Manassas Mile and is encroaching onto the east side of the Ridge Nature Area property. The large pile, reaching as much as 35 feet in height on city property, has been in place for years, has vegetation growing out of it and is referenced by the city as a “debris pile” based on actions more than a decade ago by the EPD.
Noting that EPD has a history with the site, City Manager Ray Gibson said the city contacted the agency and will work with EPD to address the issue. Gibson in documents provided by the city said staff has seen no evidence of soil erosion, adding that the city will work with EPD to implement soil and erosion measures if advised by EPD to do so. Gibson added that there is no documented evidence that the wetlands along Ginger Cake Creek have been negatively impacted.
The city lists the owner of the private property as (Dan Stinchcomb) D and S Environmental, Inc. Stinchcomb said he believes the work he did on the property conformed to what the city required.
For his part, Chase agrees that a portion of the debris pile is on city property. He disagrees with a number of other positions taken by the city.
“Based on aerial photographs, it is clear that for many years, at no time has the fill material on the property been held in place by any sediment or erosion control measures,” Chase said. “Over a several year period, the fill area was expanded and pushed past the company’s property line and beyond to encroach on city property. The aerial photographs show that the vegetation, many species of trees and shrubs that once covered the city property in that location, were destroyed.”
Chase also maintains that, given the height of the pile situated on city property and the sharp angle of the slope, there is no sediment or erosion control to stop the flow of mud, silt and trash onto city property.
“All of these negative impacts continue to damage sensitive habitats for a wide variety of wildlife,” said Chase. “Unknown but significant water quality damage continues to take place in Ginger Cake and Whitewater creeks.”
Chase takes the position that the property violates portions of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Georgia Sediment and Erosion Control Act. Based on that belief, Chase copied the U.S.Environment Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and EPD on his Nov. 10 complaint submission to the city.
For his part, Chase said the city was notified about the issue more than a year ago and hopes that state and federal environmental agencies will take a long look at the site and require action.
Gibson said he first became aware of the problem in August when he received a letter from Southern Conservation Trust Director Pam Young pertaining to concerns received from Chase.
“The pile of debris is actually covering a portion of the city property that is home to the Ridge Nature Area,” Gibson said of the more than 300-acre nature area situated largely between Ginger Cake Creek and Whitewater Creek. “It is estimated that approximately 4,000 cubic yards of debris are on the city’s property as determined by a 2014 survey completed by Integrated Science and Engineering.”
Chase in his complaint to the city estimated that there are 9,000 yards of material in need of removal.
Gibson said that, based on the complaint by Chase, the city’s code enforcement department looked at the issue and subsequently delivered a notice of violation to Dan Stinchcomb. Though he took action on the violation, Gibson said “it was later determined, based on the 2014 survey, that the area cleaned up was only a very small portion of the actual debris pile that is on the city’s property.”
Gibson said the section of the portion of the debris pile situated on city property and managed by Southern Conservation Trust is 35-40 feet in height, approximately 183 feet in width along the property line and extends a maximum of 45 feet onto city property.
Noting the work he did, Stinchcomb on Monday said he received a letter from the city indicating that the work was sufficient.
“As far as I know everything is okay,” Stinchcomb said.
Gibson on Monday acknowledged the work done by Stinchcomb, adding that the city in initially believed the removal of approximately five feet of the debris pile was sufficient until a check of the survey revealed otherwise. With EPD coming to visit the site this week, Gibson said the city will await EPD’s recommendation before contacting Stinchcomb again.
A recent check of the site revealed that the greatest bulk of the debris pile appeared to be on the west side of the 2.63-acre property owned by Stinchcomb. That is the area closest to the Ridge Nature Area and with a portion of the pile on city property. It is also in that area that the pile rises to its greatest height, with the elevation decreasing nearly to ground level to the east toward 1st Manassas Mile.
Evident on the city property is a portion of a tire protruding out of the soil and a number of pieces of broken concrete and a section of piping laying on the ground at the base of the pile on city property. It is evident that the portion of the large debris pile situated on city property has been in place for some years since there are a number of sycamore trees (estimated by Chase to be 10-12 years old) are growing out of the side of the dirt and grass-covered pile.
Also evidenced at the site, and following heavy rains, was a significant amount of rain water escaping the west side of the large mound, on city property, then puddling and, at that time, lightly flowing down-gradient in the direction of Ginger Cake Creek some 100-150 yards away.
It was after a fire at the site in 2004, and a subsequent complaint was issued by Fayette County EMS, that “EPD noted a failure on Dan Stinchcomb’s part to keep records documenting compliance with recovered materials rules in addition to C and D (construction and demolition) debris littered in the mulching operations,” city documents said.
Documents provided by the city said EPD in January 2004 travelled to the site and determined the fire was mostly extinguished. EPD advised Stinchcomb that he could continue operations at the transfer station as long as he applied additional soil to the rear slope (a portion of which today is on city property) of the pile and concentrated on removing vegetative debris not involved in the fire. Stinchcomb complied and the EPD order was satisfied, city documents said.
