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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 21:13 |
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By JIM GENARO
The City of Asheville was formally cited by a state environmental agency last Thursday in the wake of damages caused by rain erosion at the controversial Richmond Hill Park development.
According to a spokesperson for the city, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued a notice of violation on several counts, including failure to follow approved plans, insufficient measures to retain sediment on-site, failure to take all reasonable measures, failure to establish an adequate buffer zone and failure to maintain erosion-control devices.
The city-owned site ÇƒÓ which is located on what was once
one of the largest forests in Asheville ÇƒÓ is planned to be the new home
of a National Guard armory, as well as a public recreational park and
Little League ball fields.
However, due to inadequate silt-retention nets and other
erosion-control mesures that failed to meet legal standards, the land
was damaged during recent rains, resulting in silt runoff and
contamination of nearby Smith Creek.
In exchange for being allowed to build its armory on the property, the
Guard had agreed to cover the infrastructure costs and carry out the
grading necessary to build the proposed ballfields on the property.
However, Asheville City Councilwoman Robin Cape said in a phone
interview with the Daily Planet last Thursday afternoon that in the
aftermath of the damages, it was learned that "the grading contractor
was, in fact, (comprised of) volunteers of the armory and they were
learning to grade on the project."
Cape noted that the project had been approved prior to her election to
council and that she had been initially willing to not contest the
proposal ÇƒÓ given assurances from city staff that the environmental
impact would be minimal.
"Over and over again, we were assured that the Parks and Recreation
Department understood that they had our approval only because they
assured us that they would o this park as a model of enivronmental
sustainability," she said. "Iëm essentially an environmental candidate
ÇƒÓ thatës one of the main reasons Iëm there. Am I disappointed? Oh my
God ÇƒÓ Iëm furious!"
The plan had come under attack from environmentalists prior to the
start of work on the site. In an editorial in the Mountain Xpress on
Nov. 16 last year, ecologist Neville Handel noted that the Richmond
Hill property included many older trees ÇƒÓ including some as old as 300
years, as well as "many species of animals ... including red foxes,
woodpeckers ... wild turkeys, numerous songbird species, rabbits,
raccoons and multiple species of turtles, salamanders and snakes."
Cape was not the only council member to express distress about the
situation. In an e-mail sent to local media outlets on Thurday,
Councilman Brownie Newman said, "What has happened on this public
property is embarrassing. If Asheville is going develop facilities of
any kind on public property, we should hold ourselves to a higher
standard. Instead, in this case, we failed to follow the bare minimum
requirements of the law to protect water quality and prevent massive
erosion."
Newman said that the city is now holding off on construction while it considers other possible locations for the ballfields.
He also noted that cleanup crews were already working to minimize the
damage, but added that "there is real damage to the ecology of the park
which will be hard to restore, at least in the short run."
James Wood, an environmental activist who has been involved in
publicizing the dangers of the project for several months, agreed.
"Theyëre working on getting stuff together, but thereës a tremendous
amount of work to do just to stop the erosion ÇƒÓ not even to clean up
the mess," he noted. "What really makes me sad is, itës neglect that
caused this. The damage is done, but the impact will be felt for
decades."
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