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Many of
you are familiar with Wisconsin Wetlands Association's successful earlier
fight to prevent Ashley Furniture Company from getting "back
door" permission from the legislature to fill wetlands near its
facility in Trempealeau County,
Wisconsin.
Ashley is
again looking to fill wetlands. This time, they are following the
appropriate legal process and applying for fill permits from the US Army
Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
(WDNR). Wisconsin Wetlands Association has reviewed their permit
application and related paperwork, as well as comments from several federal
agencies on the proposed fill, and has found Ashley's rationale for the
proposed fill projects to be inadequately justified.
"Avoid, Minimize, Mitigate" is standard protocol for wetland
impacts. This proposal neither avoids nor minimizes, but rather jumps
straight to mitigation. Section 404(b)(1) of the
Guidelines for the federal Clean Water Act establishes a goal of avoiding
or minimizing wetland impacts for a non water-dependent activity. Because
the activities for which this wetland fill is being proposed are not
water-dependent, other, yet-to-be-considered alternatives for Ashley
Furniture's desired expansion may well meet this goal and may be
practicable as defined in the Guidelines.
The WDNR
is accepting public comment on Ashley's wetland fill permit, and we
encourage you to make your voice heard. Below find background on the
site in question and on the environmental analysis and rationale provided
by Ashley, as well as recommended talking points for your comments.
Please
note that public comments must be post-marked or received by 4:30 PM on
September 6, 2005.
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Background
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Ashley
Furniture is proposing to fill 14.58 acres of wetland for the expansion
of their existing facility to meet their manufacturing and distribution
needs. The project includes the filling of 11.32 acres of wetland for a
425,000 square foot expansion of an existing warehouse to improve the efficiency
of the facility. In addition, 3.26 acres of wetland would be filled for
the construction of a railroad siding track and intermodal
container storage area to facilitate the loading and unloading of these
containers, which are used by Ashley Furniture to transport raw materials
and finished products in bulk.
The
large expanse of wetlands that are contiguous with the proposed 3.26 acre
rail siding/intermodal storage area have been
badly degraded as a result of Ashley Furniture's previous 16.3 acre fill
in 1993 and because of their ongoing direct (tree removal and mowing of
wetland vegetation) and indirect (runoff from impervious surfaces of the
facility) degradation of the extant wetlands. (For more information on
the quality of this site, see #4 in Suggested Talking Points, below.)
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Suggested Talking Points
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1)
The WDNR should conduct an independent Practicable Alternatives Analysis
in order to adequately evaluate Ashley Furniture's permit application. Currently, the
only Practicable Alternatives Analysis was completed by consultants hired
by Ashley Furniture. This analysis is incomplete and difficult to
interpret by anyone who is not an expert in furniture manufacturing. The
current Practicable Alternatives Analysis appears flawed for a number of
reasons, including:
- the analysis does not
evaluate the two wetland fill projects separately with respect to
their independent costs and functions for Ashley Furniture and their
different hydrologic systems;
- the analysis makes it
impossible to determine the outcome (in terms of economic and
environmental impacts) if the 11.32 acre wetland were filled and the
3.26 acre wetland were not;
- the analysis makes no
clear case for why the construction of the railroad siding/intermodal storage area must be done at the
location specified because the evaluation has been lumped into the
discussion of the impacts and costs of the larger 11.32 acre fill
proposal.
2)
The WDNR should evaluate the cumulative effects of Ashley
Furniture's past wetland fills, the current requests to fill, and the
future of the existing wetlands when considering this permit application. The cumulative
effects of Ashley Furniture's history of expansion and site modification
(e.g., degradation of remaining adjacent wetlands through tree clearing
and mowing) must be considered when evaluating the quality and functions
of the affected wetlands. Ashley Furniture relies heavily on the
"low quality" of the wetlands to be affected as justification
for the fill, however these wetlands are low
quality as a result of previous fills and because of current
management practices.
3)
The WDNR should stipulate that Ashley Furniture justify their statements
that this will be their last plant expansion in Arcadia by protecting the remaining
wetlands in perpetuity and by restoring the wetlands to be protected. Although
Ashley Furniture has stated that this will be their last application to
fill wetlands at this site, they have made no effort to demonstrate their
sincerity to protect and restore the remaining wetlands. Degradation of
the wetlands as a result of Ashley Furniture's past and current
activities should not represent grounds for continued wetland fill. The
cumulative impacts of Ashley Furniture's fills are already apparent from
changes in the quality of the wetland system. Any approvals to allow
wetland losses at the site should include a condition that Ashley
Furniture secure permanent protection for the remaining wetlands through
a conservation easement or similar protective deed restriction.
4)
The 3.26 acre site that would be filled as a result of the proposed rail
siding/intermodal storage area must be
evaluated for all of its functional values, and the methods used
for this evaluation must be documented. The 3.26 acres of wetlands that
would be filled as a result of the Rail Siding/Intermodal
Storage Area are part of the same wetland complex that has been the
subject of intense controversy over the past 20 years. This 3.26 acre
wetland is not a discrete wetland at all but rather is the latest portion
of an extensive floodplain wetland to be proposed for filling. This 3.26 acre
area is given scant treatment in both the Environmental Assessment (a
mere 5 lines of text, focused only on floristic diversity) and the
consultant's report. The landscape context of the wetland is not fairly
represented, and, to read the descriptions provided in the report, one
imagines a 2 acre stretch of lawn and nothing more. Wetland quality can
be determined in a number of ways, including not only floristic diversity
but also faunal diversity, wildlife habitat value, water quality
functions, and floodwater storage capacity. The 3.26 acres of wetland,
though mowed, are part of a larger wetland complex that stretches to the Trempealeau River. The methodology for
evaluating the functional values must be provided as part of the
assessment for the evaluation to have credibility.
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How to
Submit Your Comments
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Written comments on Ashley's wetland
fill permit application are welcome from any member of the public and
should include the docket number (IP-WC- 2005-62-0291BT) or applicant
name.
Submit comments to:
Dan Bauman
West Central Water Leader
1300 W Clairemont
Ave
Eau Claire, WI 54702 dan.baumann@dnr.state.wi.us
All
comments must be post-marked or received by 4:30 PM, September 6, 2005.
The
Department of Natural Resources held a Public Hearing on August 16 in Arcadia, WI,
home of Ashley Furniture. Wisconsin Wetlands Association attended and
presented testimony, as did numerous Ashley employees.
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