Road not needed
To the Journal editor:
Have we asked ourselves who will benefit financially if Marquette County Road 595 is built? The special interests and private individuals who are paying for the lawsuit, perhaps?
Proponents claim that the EPA is playing politics, but Jim Iwanicki’s Washington testimony spells out a long list of politicians, both state and federal, and local officials who pushed for regulatory approval. FOIA’d communications show that the road commission lobbied legislators throughout the permitting process.
County Road 595 is not needed for responding to accidents or wildfires. In fact, the permit application states that construction of this road “may result in more forest fires, more search and rescue calls, and more EMS calls to this region of the county.”
As for reducing air pollution, consider the effects of new asphalt on both air and water quality. What about the permanent loss of carbon uptake due to the widespread clearing of trees?
Think of the diesel exhaust to be emitted during construction, both from heavy machinery and trucks working in and near the corridor, and from transport of equipment and materials to the construction site.
It may be true that EPA never “liked” the project but neither did the Army Corps, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, or field staff at both Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michugan Department of Environmental Quality.
It was the political appointees at the head of our state agencies who pushed for permit approval.
Another misconception is that permitting is solely based on wetlands mitigation ratios. In fact, ratios are only a guideline, and decisions are made on a site-specific basis.
Construction of County Road 595 would have directly impacted many wetland complexes and bisected a major wildlife corridor, fragmenting both habitat and hydrology. Tacking a corner onto a wilderness area would not even come close to mitigating these effects.
EPA’s decisions were not “arbitrary and capricious” as the Road Commission contends. Instead, they were in alignment with the concerns of the other state and federal agencies charged with protecting our natural resources.
Marquette County is already faced with maintaining the Triple A-510 highway after Lundin finishes operations. We cannot afford to take on another back-country thoroughfare.
What happened to regional and local transportation studies, and to other bypass discussions?
The road commission should get busy with these initiatives, and focus time and financial resources on repairing existing infrastructure a bigger job-creator and more important to the economy than building a road we don’t really need.
Catherine Parker
Marquette
Road not needed
To the Journal editor:
Have we asked ourselves who will benefit financially if Marquette County Road 595 is built? The special interests and private individuals who are paying for the lawsuit, perhaps?
Proponents claim that the EPA is playing politics, but Jim Iwanicki’s Washington testimony spells out a long list of politicians, both state and federal, and local officials who pushed for regulatory approval. FOIA’d communications show that the road commission lobbied legislators throughout the permitting process.
County Road 595 is not needed for responding to accidents or wildfires. In fact, the permit application states that construction of this road “may result in more forest fires, more search and rescue calls, and more EMS calls to this region of the county.”
As for reducing air pollution, consider the effects of new asphalt on both air and water quality. What about the permanent loss of carbon uptake due to the widespread clearing of trees?
Think of the diesel exhaust to be emitted during construction, both from heavy machinery and trucks working in and near the corridor, and from transport of equipment and materials to the construction site.
It may be true that EPA never “liked” the project but neither did the Army Corps, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, or field staff at both Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michugan Department of Environmental Quality.
It was the political appointees at the head of our state agencies who pushed for permit approval.
Another misconception is that permitting is solely based on wetlands mitigation ratios. In fact, ratios are only a guideline, and decisions are made on a site-specific basis.
Construction of County Road 595 would have directly impacted many wetland complexes and bisected a major wildlife corridor, fragmenting both habitat and hydrology. Tacking a corner onto a wilderness area would not even come close to mitigating these effects.
EPA’s decisions were not “arbitrary and capricious” as the Road Commission contends. Instead, they were in alignment with the concerns of the other state and federal agencies charged with protecting our natural resources.
Marquette County is already faced with maintaining the Triple A-510 highway after Lundin finishes operations. We cannot afford to take on another back-country thoroughfare.
What happened to regional and local transportation studies, and to other bypass discussions?
The road commission should get busy with these initiatives, and focus time and financial resources on repairing existing infrastructure a bigger job-creator and more important to the economy than building a road we don’t really need.
Catherine Parker
Marquette