Stabilizing culvert over muck?

Threepoint · Mar 22, 2015

vtsnowedin said:
Back in the 70's when this first came in we had a presentation by a guy from A.C.E. named Leech. He was asked what was covered by the new law. He said 1. Everything that was tidal. 2. Everything that was seasonally or perennially inundated. and 3. Everything that was merely moist and supported wetland plants. When asked how big a wetland had to be to require a permit he held up his hands shoulder wide and said about this big. We all laughed but as the presentation went on we came to understand he was not joking. They do allow farmers to do some things but rest assured the authority and final decision power rests with them.

Great story. A lot has changed since then, including the litigation Depmandog cites. Here's the full text of the 2001 Supreme Ct. decision, for those wanting some light reading. :laughing: Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers et al., 531 U.S. 159

But the facts of that case dealt primarily with jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Other federal, state and local laws and regulations can come into play, depending on where the wetlands are located and the circumstances of the disturbance. So it's still a pretty complicated subject, for sure.

Jim Timber · Mar 22, 2015

The sand below the clay was dry, and this wetland is roughly 6' above lake level. If I breech the liner, I need to reseal it somehow.

As for permits, I have 5 business days remaining before the comment period expires and I get my signed exemption decision (permit). I have a verbal "OK" and was told to get moving on hauling rock as the winter road rules were still in place when he deemed he would approve the application. We've received 14 objections to the creation of my road, and not one of them made a viable argument to stop the project - all were extraneous impacts to noise, traffic, safety of kids on the adjacent road; none were related to a situation that would've required additional due process (endangered frogs living in that wetland, etc). So I will get my permit on Friday. This is 100% above board, and with the added scrutiny of the objecting neighbors I need to be extra cautious to not do anything I can't defend.

I've had the MN State SWC guy, the county SWCD lady, and the county wetlands coordinator (who over sees the TEP) all out on site prior to initiating the application and trying to find an acceptable way to execute my access needs. The state guy was the one who did the soil probes and the county guy was present when that information was obtained so I can't claim I didn't know, and ignorance is not an excuse which would absolve my responsibility to correct the error. There will be no removal of the root mat even if it means I need 30 loads of bone instead of the 15 I think will be sufficient to handle the corduroy construction.

The amount of use will be minimal (private road). Largely the heaviest use will be 3/4T pick ups with tandem axle trailers hauling 10K or less - firewood, which will be seasonal and in the drier part of the year. There will be construction equipment and materials delivered on semi trailers, but that will be limited to the erection of my buildings on site. I need to accommodate fire trucks and those are likely to be the heaviest loads aside from the concrete trucks. I think I already mentioned the road this joins is 7T axle limited already, so that impacts the abuse this road will be exposed to. I'll gate it when we're not there to prevent unauthorized use. We'll have a better turn around situation on my land than the dead end at the termination of the one-way street this is on. If truckers learn of that, they'll be inclined to disregard the no trespassing signs and use my road rather than needing to make a tight 3 point turn.

I think I'll sink some logs in the hole to support the culvert as suggested here: A Landowner's Guide to Building Forest Access Roads - Recommendations for Wetland Forest Roads

Jim Timber · May 16, 2015

It's been a couple months since the last post on this thread, and it's been a week since the road restrictions were lifted. I've gotten beyond the appeal period without any action, and the land services supervisor was very cordial when I stopped in to ask some questions about moving fill for use in my road - I had their complete blessings on this project from the start despite what the neighbors wanted.

60 yards of stone and 255 yards of taconite tailings later - I'm on high ground on the other side, but I still need to bring more fill in to get the road up to width and final elevation. I'll probably wait until fall to do that though.