LANSING -- A property in Elk Rapids Township is stirring up controversy between state environmental regulators and Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Bellaire.
The Department of Environmental Quality cited property owner Dorance Amos for a wetlands violation for his property in Elsenheimer's district, prompting the lawmaker to ask the DEQ to exempt the site because it's used for agricultural purposes.
The DEQ received two complaints about the site, one from a local resident and one from Heidi Lang, the soil erosion officer for Antrim County. The complaints alleged Amos, a fruit grower, was attempting to construct an access road that cut into the wetlands.
State law prohibits any removal of soil or construction in wetlands -- whether public or private -- without a permit.
In November, Lang said she noticed a stump had been removed to build the roadway, an unauthorized change in an area classified as a wetland.
Since the area currently is snow-covered, it's hard to assess the situation, said John Arevalo, Cadillac district supervisor for DEQ's land and water management division.
"During the wintertime, it's difficult to see the plants that are growing and the soil," Arevalo said. "And we have no control over what time of year complaints come in."
Elsenheimer, however, said there's a problem with the amount of time it may take for the DEQ to make a decision.
"I find it alarming," Elsenheimer wrote in his letter to the DEQ, "that the department would demand compliance information from the applicant within 10 days of the notice of violation; yet the department will not know for sure whether the area in question is subject to such regulations for several months later."
Exemptions from the permit requirement are often granted when property is for agricultural use, Arevalo said.
An assessment to determine whether to exempt the property could cost a landowner $500 for one acre and $250 per every additional acre, according to the DEQ.
The confusion over the property is a result of the DEQ's failure to complete a required inventory of state wetlands as outlined in state law, Elsenheimer said.
"The department has not completed its delineation of wetlands," he said. "I want uniform enforcement of the act."
Lang said she's glad about the debate over the alleged violation.
"We need to have the rules clarified so people know what they are one way or the other," Lang said
The DEQ has drafted a response to Elsenheimer, but it has not been finalized and the department has declined to release it. The complaints are still pending.
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