DEQ sees violation in progress

By Brian McGillivary
bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com

October 28, 2007 04:00 am

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TRAVERSE CITY -- State environmental enforcement officers received some unanticipated training in beach grooming violations, thanks to a small tractor they observed raking the beach behind Tamarack Lodge on East Grand Traverse Bay.

About a dozen Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees were undergoing training on lake levels last month when they came upon unauthorized beach work underway at Tamarack Lodge, said DEQ's Eric Hudy.

"We just happened to notice this activity so we walked over to talk to them about it," Hudy said.

The DEQ issued a notice of violation, making Tamarack the third hotel along East Bay to be cited for illegal beach grooming by the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Area environmentalists are calling for significant fines and restoration in the most recent case. They allege Tamarack stripped vegetation from 400 feet of beachfront.

"If they get away with a slap on the wrist, what's to stop them from doing it again," said John Nelson, baykeeper for Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay.

Nelson wants punishment similar to what was levied against the Cherry Tree Inn, whose owners this year were fined $35,000 and ordered to replant sections of vegetation after a bulldozer illegally moved soil in and out of Lake Michigan waters in 2006.

In 2005, nearby North Shore Inn was cited for sending a bulldozer into the water to groom its beach.

Nelson said he's concerned for adjoining coastal wetlands in front of the Waterfront Conference Center, one of the few untouched areas left on the bay.

Those concerns are misplaced, said Tamarack Lodge developer Richard "R.C." Hermann, who also owns the conference center.

Hermann said he plans to feature those wetlands as part of the landscape.

"There's a small stream that meanders, surrounded by wetlands on both sides and they are quite lovely," he said.

Hermann said his workers did not strip vegetation from the entire beach, but acknowledged that workers improperly removed a small area of vegetation near wetlands.

Hudy said the DEQ has not completed its review of Hermann's response and the incident remains under investigation.