Sediment Control

The Maryland attorney general's office has accused a Harwood club of working on its property last year without filing a sediment control plan with Anne Arundel County government, the state announced yesterday. A criminal information was filed Feb. 27 in Anne Arundel Circuit Court against Three Rivers Sportsmen Inc. If convicted, the club could be punished by a fine of up to $5,000. There was no answer at the club's telephone yesterday. Betty Dixon, a spokeswoman for the county's land-use office, said yesterday that county officials cited the club last year for grading without a permit and filling in a floodplain on its 20-acre property.

An Severna Park man has been fined $11,500 for cutting trees in the designated shoreline buffer zone without permits or permission, authorities said. William E. Clark, of the 200 block of Lennox Ave., pleaded guilty to violating Maryland's shoreline development law, according to a Friday statement from the attorney general's office. In Mary 2010, Clark hired a tree service to remove several trees on his property and land owned by the Olde Severna Park Improvement Association Inc. that abuts his home and a beach area on the Severn River, the statement said.

Anne Arundel County, which has thrown the book at housing developersin recent years for violating erosion control laws, has begun regrading the Millersville landfill with a sediment control plan some experts consider outdated.Although the county has a revised plan pending before the county Soil Conservation District, mud and silt are already polluting a Severn Run tributary that flows across the Burns Crossing Road facility, said Lina Vlavianos, an environmental activist appointed to the SCD's governing board last year.

The Maryland attorney general's office has accused a Harwood club of working on its property last year without filing a sediment control plan with Anne Arundel County government, the state announced yesterday. A criminal information was filed Feb. 27 in Anne Arundel Circuit Court against Three Rivers Sportsmen Inc. If convicted, the club could be punished by a fine of up to $5,000. There was no answer at the club's telephone yesterday. Betty Dixon, a spokeswoman for the county's land-use office, said yesterday that county officials cited the club last year for grading without a permit and filling in a floodplain on its 20-acre property.

Several new homebuyers, including Steve Alexander of Bel Air and Karen L. Battenfeld and Mark E. Locklear of Joppa, have been aggravated by water runoff problems on their lots. Their complaints include standing or pooling water, damage to grass, soil erosion and damp basements. All these problems may have been caused by improper site grading, which allows water to accumulate, seep into basements or create gullies.The homebuilders have been unable or unwilling to address the water problems satisfactorily.

The county has been violating state sediment-control laws aimed at protecting streams and rivers from soil pollution in its preparation of new cells to hold garbage at the Scarboro Landfill, the county's central dump located near Dublin.Harford County violated state environmental laws by excavating at the landfill without an approved sediment-control plan or appropriate perimeter controls, such as fences, a spokesman for the state Department of the Environment."We do know they did, in fact, begin without a sediment-control plan, and as yet they do not have one," said John Goheen, a spokesman for the state Department of the Environment.

County Commissioner Julia W. Gouge and her husband, Jesse L. Gouge, removed a pile of dirt from the bank of a stream on their property last weekend to correct a county sediment control violation.They appear to have complied with "95 to 99 percent" of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' instructions to mitigate a minor violation of federal wetlands regulations, corps inspector Sandy Mues said yesterday.Ms. Mues said she would not release the citation against Mr. and Mrs. Gouge until she checks the property.

The Aberdeen commissioners have adopted a bill that strengthens the town's control over storm-water management and sediment runoff.The bill, passed Monday, allows Aberdeen inspectors to check on sediment control measures at construction sites.Builders will be required to obtain a grading permit or sediment control agreement from the Aberdeen director of public works.The commissioners also proposed at a meeting Monday a measure creating a Commercial District Management Authority to support business development in Aberdeen.

Developers, state and county officials, and conservationists -- often a contentious combination -- will meet tomorrow in a rare workshop to discuss solutions to the problem of erosion and sediment runoff in the region's waterways. Although the workshop in Millersville is not expected to generate a formal policy statement, participants say they hope to walk away with more insight into the challenges and possibilities of environmentally friendly development sites, said Weems Creek Conservancy President Evan Belaga.

The 1 1/2 -year battle between state regulators and Howard County's only quarry has ended, but the owner says resulting losses may drive him to sell his business.James "Skip" Piccirilli said he is preparing to begin mining on the part of his quarry that was shut down in November 1993 by the state agency that regulates mines. Piccirilli Quarries -- which Mr. Piccirilli owns with his father, William -- borders Marriottsville Road south of Driver Road in Marriottsville.Mr. Piccirilli says the required shutdown on a steep slope that faces the road has cost his company $300,000 to $400,000.

Developers, state and county officials, and conservationists -- often a contentious combination -- will meet tomorrow in a rare workshop to discuss solutions to the problem of erosion and sediment runoff in the region's waterways. Although the workshop in Millersville is not expected to generate a formal policy statement, participants say they hope to walk away with more insight into the challenges and possibilities of environmentally friendly development sites, said Weems Creek Conservancy President Evan Belaga.

Kirk Nevin, 58, of Norrisville is disappointed about the lack of supervision and enormous amount of erosion and sediment in the nearly 3 acres in Norrisville behind the new library/recreation center. "The land was stripped, and there has been no effort to stabilize the earth," he said. "It looks like Afghanistan out there." "This situation is merely a symptom of a much larger problem, that choices we make affect the environment around us. I would like my grandchildren to enjoy the bay and results of the ecological cleanup," he said.

Church Road is no place for `Woods' On Sept. 20, the Howard County Planning Board met for what it had hoped would be its final meeting on a proposed development called "The Woods at Park Place." But the board could not break a 2-2 impasse on the development; it will reconvene Oct. 25 to make a decision ("Board div- ided on Pfau development," Sept. 22). The development presented difficult challenges to the board because while it appeared to meet zoning requirements, The Woods did not meet applicable Howard County Historic District Guidelines.

Dear Mr. Azrael: My husband and I bought a house in mid-February. The house is in a new development where more homes are being built. Our house is about 1 1/2 years old, and we bought it from the original owners, who had it built. The back yard slopes down toward the house, and every time it rains, the back yard floods and retains water for well over 24 hours. Several weeks ago, when we had a big rain here in Maryland, there was also a small amount of water in our basement, coming in through the concrete walls and below the basement door, damaging many of the boxes of "stuff" we haven't had a chance to unpack.

Seeking outside help to preserve Lake Kittamaqundi, Columbia officials gave Howard County Executive James N. Robey a lakeside lesson yesterday in flood plains and sediment build-up. Columbia Association President Deborah O. McCarty led Robey on a 60-minute tour of the 27-acre Town Center lake that the Rouse Co. built more than 30 years ago and that remains a symbol of the community's suburban aesthetic. At issue is the build-up of sediment -- a natural process that has been exacerbated by the lake's position in a flood plain next to the Little Patuxent River.

Several new homebuyers, including Steve Alexander of Bel Air and Karen L. Battenfeld and Mark E. Locklear of Joppa, have been aggravated by water runoff problems on their lots. Their complaints include standing or pooling water, damage to grass, soil erosion and damp basements. All these problems may have been caused by improper site grading, which allows water to accumulate, seep into basements or create gullies.The homebuilders have been unable or unwilling to address the water problems satisfactorily.

Developer ordered to stop workA Carroll County grading inspector ordered builder Jeffrey B. Powers to stop working at his Piney Meadow development near Sykesville on Friday because of problems with sediment control fences.The inspector had told Mr. Powers on April 30 to repair a silt fence and add more fencing at a building site on Long Leaf Pine Road. He was supposed to have made the changes by Friday, said Kristin Barmoy, bureau chief for storm-water management and sediment control."It was just an oversight on our part.

WESTMINSTER - After months of battling Peer Construction Co. of Reisterstown, residents of The Greens have realized they are stuck with eroding land off Windsor Court.The Greens of Westminster Homeowners Association was notified Aug. 10 by the Baltimore County developer that the former "tot lot" and other open space properties had been turned over to it, making it members' responsibility to seed and maintain the areas.However, no one from the association inspected the property or formally accepted it before it was deeded to them.

PEOPLE OFTEN feel disconnected with government because they don't feel it does things that matter to their lives. This feeling can pervade even well-run administrations if they don't communicate with those they serve. Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger appears to grasp that.Last week, Mr. Ruppersberger met with community leaders in the southwest and southeast parts of the county to update them on what has been done to improve these areas since he made revitalization of older neighborhoods a priority in his 1994 campaign.

Every time it rains, dirt from Random House Inc.'s construction of a warehouse washes into the stream that supplies Westminster's drinking water.City officials say they can live with the situation for the moment by tapping Westminster's reservoir when sediment clouds the West Branch of the Patapsco River, the city's main water source. Meanwhile, Random House hopes to install a diversion system by late spring that will keep sediment out of the stream.State and county specialists and inspectors say sediment control measures for the warehouse at the company's distribution center on Route 27 meet legal requirements.