Connector permit decision delayed

Time needed to study threatened plant species

Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009

The Maryland Department of the Environment has delayed its Dec. 1 decision on the permit application for the cross-county connector project in Charles County until the spring.

As explained in a letter to the county dated Nov. 20 and written by Amanda Sigillito, the chief of the nontidal wetlands and waterways division, the delay will allow for a review of the county's argument in support of the permit and provide the Maryland Department of Natural Resources the time needed to study two threatened species of plant that grow in the warmer months.

According to the letter addressed to Chuck Beall, the county's director of the Department of Planning and Growth Management, field surveys for the Iris verna (dwarf iris) and the Melica mutica (narrow melicgrass) are required by DNR before a decision can be rendered by the state agency.

The delay will add on months to an already extended deadline, but Sigillito indicated there would be no more waiting once the study is complete.

"MDE will commit to rendering a permit decision within six weeks of resolution of the threatened species issue," Sigillito wrote.

Sigillito declined to comment on the record about the deadline extension.

Glenn Therres, who is in charge of the endangered species program for DNR, said the field study for the two threatened plants had been suggested more than a year ago to the county.

Therres said the department looks at the corridors and outlying areas a project will affect and the habitat of that region to determine whether there might be a species in danger.

Last summer when DNR requested the study on the two plants it was too late in the season to start the surveys.

When asked about the effects a threatened species can have on a project, Therres said "very rarely does an endangered species stop a project. It can modify [plans] but not outright stop."

With the finish line visible, those who have argued both sides of the connector project can do little more now than wait for warm weather.

Fortunately for everyone invested in the future of the east-west link, patience is something they've had to learn since the project first came before the public nearly a year and a half ago.

In July 2008, residents concerned about the justification of the connector and its effects on the sensitive area it would be built through began demanding answers from the county.

The Charles County commissioners and many on the state level advocated for the cross-county connector to help link the two halves of the region together and to promote an organized layout for future development.

The first four phases of the connector have been completed. The four-lane road runs through portions of Billingsley Road extending from Route 5 and stopping at Middletown Road in Waldorf.

The remaining six miles extend between Middletown Road and Route 210 and the county estimates the cost to finish the project will be $47 million, and that does not count the more than half million dollars spent on studying the effects of the connector on the environment.

While also listening to the concerns of residents, the county must get the approval of the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The former handles issues with any nontidal wetlands, while the corps monitors work around open waterways and wetlands.

In November of last year the county requested a six-month extension. Two months later the state agency requested the county provide information on six different topics related to the planned cross-county connector including any changes in the county's stated need for the roadway and the effects on the surrounding environment.

Advocates of the connector say providing buffers and directing a majority of commuters to the highway will be a benefit to the environment and also relieve congestion and the threat of danger to motorists on local roads.

Opposing conservationists argue regardless of the good intentions of the road's design, there will be irreversible damage to the Mattawoman Creek: Not only to the water itself, but also the flora and fauna.

Terry Cummings of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said his agency was disappointed that the state hadn't made a decision.

"[MDE] is being very deliberate in doing their due diligence and that's appropriate," Cummings said. "I think there was enough information to make a decision."

Cummings said while there's no telling what the department will decide, "the uncertainty is a little frustrating."

At least once a decision is made everyone can move forward one way or the other, Cummings said.

The county completed a similar field survey for the endangered potato dandelion plant in May, because it grows directly in the path of projected construction. That same month MDE sent a letter to the county acknowledging the agency would need until the end of the year to review the data submitted by the county.

In the past month there has been a multitude of correspondence between the county and the state department of the environment, as the former has sent letters in support of the permit and the latter is busy with formulating a response.

The time needed to answer has taken the two sides through the Dec. 1 deadline, which is the reason for the extension.

Jay Apperson, spokesman for MDE, said the county has coordinated with the Department of Natural Resources to prepare for the field study.

He also said the county had met with his agency Dec. 9, but he did not know who was in attendance from each side.

County officials did not return calls requesting comment on the new deadline.

msomers@somdnews.com