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June 3, 2004County should demand restoration of site nowFor more than two years now, as the case against developer Bill Clous has inched its way through reluctant prosecution, political infighting and court battles, pollution of streams in the Mitchell Creek Watershed has continued pretty much unabated.It's time for someone to do something about it - starting today wouldn't be soon enough - no matter the outcome of state environmental charges pending against Clous or the answer to the sole remaining question: What took so long? If Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle orders work at the site before state officials settle their case against Clous, so be it. There had been some thought that the state might also order site remediation, but so what? The point is to get work going and do it now. One can imagine, for instance, how much soil poured into the creek from the heavy rains of late May. "It would have been great to get some (control measures) in May of last year, but I don't think that diminished the importance of getting them in now," said Todd Kalish, a fisheries biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. "It's critical to get those measures implemented." Former county drain commissioner Maureen Templeton said she couldn't understand the delay. She said she spoke to LaBelle about steps the county could take to fix the problem, but nothing was done. "He's just finally starting to move on it two years down the road," Templeton said. "I guess it's better than nothing." Perhaps better than nothing, but certainly not good enough. What makes LaBelle's reluctance even harder to understand is that this was a high-profile case that drew the attention of environmentalists from across the state and plenty of political heat at home. Officials said Clous did extensive earth moving and cleared trees on a 360-acre site at Hammond, Townline and Three Mile roads. They also say he buried streams and filled wetlands. A settlement conference in a civil suit filed by LaBelle is scheduled for this week. LaBelle has said he wants to be ready to order work on the site to begin if the county wins the suit, but others say the county had the authority two years ago. The county would recoup any costs through a lien on the property. The Clous case has to have been both frustrating and satisfying for local environmentalists. Although the case dragged on and on, Clous has been forced to face the music. The most satisfying resolution, of course, would be restoring the land to its initial state, something that critics say can't happen too soon.
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