Last week, I described a problem that Fayetteville has with an illegal fill next to and onto the city’s nature area known as The Ridge. Unfortunately, instead of action, the city has elected to list the reasons why they have done nothing and why they will continue with that management style.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division was involved from 2002 to 2004. Based on that, Fayetteville is trying to say that the state has taken responsibility for this fill. That is simply not true.
The state dropped the issue 11 years ago, and may now become involved again because I filed a formal complaint with the Environmental Protection agency. But even if the state revisits the problem, that does not relieve the city from their responsibility, no matter how hard they try to convince us otherwise.
Earlier this year, the city code enforcement officer ordered the property owner to move part of the illegal material from city property. But after moving less than one percent of the mess, he concluded that the owner was now in compliance. Unbelievable! Expect the city to say they have taken a position they have to maintain.
One of the worst forms of management, whether it be a business or government, is when every effort is made to find ways to avoid responsibility for serious issues. Now add the famous “we’ll do a study,” another delaying tactic. How characteristic.
The sediment, trash and toxins continue to flow onto city property and their plan is to study it so they can come up with a plan. This is really simple: put up sediment fences and remove the illegal mess from city property. That is the plan.
Aerial and satellite images show the growth and expansion of the fill area going back at least 12 years. From the very beginning, the site was illegal due to the types of materials (with no permit) that were being buried and burned there.
Between May of 2002 through April of 2004, Georgia Environmental Protection Division made several on-site visits. Finally, in early May 2004, the state executed a consent order which was agreed to and signed by property owner, Dan Stinchcomb. A 6-point settlement was reached. But evidence is there to show that in the following years the illegal activities didn’t stop.
All of this mess flows downhill and into Ginger Cake Creek and then into Whitewater Creek about a quarter of a mile away. Both streams are in trouble water-quality wise, and this illegal fill area is making the problem even more significant.
One of the complaints I filed was with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because on Whitewater Creek, downstream from the confluence with Ginger Cake, the area is designated as “Critical Habitat” for federally endangered species.
By allowing the fill to remain, and more specifically by not requiring sediment control measures, Fayetteville has essentially placed itself in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
To further document the problem, I returned to the site once more, this time to do a basic soil analysis. This amounted to digging test pits in the impacted area to see how deep it went. I compare it to soil test sites in natural areas away from the impact zone. The results were amazing.
In the impact area, I reached to a depth of 16 inches with no original forest soils in sight, so I gave up. That contrasts to soils from the nearby forest that in a shallow pit, there was a 1-inch layer of dark organic material and then a light colored mix of sand and clay — typical forest soils.
I wish I could tell you that this is the only problem, but elsewhere on the nature area, the Southern Conservation Trust is over-developing the public use portion and the natural ecosystems are taking significant hits. More on that next week.
Dennis Chase
Fayetteville, Ga.
