Back from Vacation, Mellow Enough for a Fight

I’m back from vacation, well rested and mellowed by two weeks of camping and sailing.

All the time off the grid reminded me of the crucial importance of preserving the few green areas we have left. 

And so I bring to your attention an excellent report that came out last week, called “Trouble Ahead.” The study details reasons why it would be foolish and destructive to build a $60 million highway across one of the Chesapeake Bay region’s most productive fish breeding grounds, the Mattawoman Creek in Southern Maryland. (The picture above, by Ben Feldman, is of sunset over the Mattawoman Creek, as enjoyed by two lusty damselflies.)

Here’s one of the facts that jumped out at me.  Charles County, which needs approval from the Maryland Department of the Environment and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the roadway, is already consuming an average of 1.5 acres of land per residential unit, the most of any metro-area jurisdiction  in Maryland. 

That’s a lot of sprawl.  And that kind of spread out development would only accelerate if the Charles County Connector is built.

State and federal pollution limits for the Mattawoman Creek call for a 40 percent reduction in nutrient runoff pollution into the fragile waterway, according to the "Trouble Ahead" report, by the Smarter Growth Alliance for Charles County.  But scientific modeling conducted as part of an Army Corps study show that increases in nutrient pollution of up to 50 percent can be expected under Charles County’s growth policies in the area, which center around the highway.

The highway is not even necessary, according to the county’s own planning department.

To read more, and learn about the better public transportation alternatives, click here to view the full report.

Another great resource is the website of the Mattawoman Watershed Society.  Check it out and lend your hand to this important fight for water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. Write to the Charles County Government.  Write to Governor Martin O'Malley (because it's his state agency, the Maryland Department of the Environment, that must approve a permit to allow the destruction of seven acres of wetlands to allow the highway).  Contact the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (because they must also approve the permit).

Then YOU can go on vacation.

 

Comments

[Fredericka]

Why should the residents of Charles County be burdened by having to pay for a redundant road? This unnecessary road will run just four miles south of the existing 228/Barry Road, which already connects 301 to 210. Also, building this road will do nothing to address the accidents and hazardous road conditions that exist on the current Billingsley Road, which will still have to be addressed with or without the connector. This unnecessary road is a very bad idea.

[Cheryl Thomas]

IF this is approved by MDE and the Corps it will "seal the deal" for the developers who are the ones who REALLY call the shots in Charles County, and the State for that matter.

Thanks Tom for doing such great work!!

You have no idea how many appreciate everything you have done and are doing!!

[Carrie Staples]

Charles County should use the perfectly satisfactory alternate route and spare Mattawoman Creek from certain death. This road is merely the current threat against the Mattawoman. More will arise over time. We must be vigilant and conquer each new threat when it appears.

[Betsy Johnson]

Excellent points on the threats to water quality in Charles County due to short sighted development plans. Please keep up the fight - this issue deserves a lot more attention.

[Cheryl Thomas]

I remember when I was a kid - my father, brother and I would hike the mile or so behind our house, to the area where the Connector extension would be located.

Needless to say, I just can't imagine a four-lane "development corridor" slicing through it.

The phrases that "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" &
"take paradise and put up a parking lot" sadly says it all with regards to the Mattawoman!!

[linda redding]

The commissioners of Charles County are using flawed accounting when they tell us the highway will cost $ 60,000,000 of citizens' tax dollars. This fairy tale is guaranteed to become a nightmare. Deliberately left out of the calculation is the loss of millions of dollars of services currently provided for free by the thousands of acres of forests which would be destroyed by the resulting cancerous sprawl. Also left out of the calculation are the millions of dollars we citizens will have to pay to deal with the resulting light, air, noise and water pollution from the highway. There will also be related increases in flooding and drought conditions. Not to mention the cost of the continued maintenance of the highway. Goodbye quality of life and hello MUCH higher taxes. The published, pretend cost is NOT the true full cost to us citizens. Environmental economics tells us that our green infrastructure is NOT an externality, that a highway that destroys a functioning ecosystem will only impoverish us. It is considerably ignorant, or greedy, or both, to treat forests as if they are land that "is going to waste". Quite the contrary, forests and functioning ecosystems not only save us money, but also produce income, the opposite of which is residential sprawl, which NEVER pays for itself and only depletes a jurisdiction's financial resources. When all the costs are correctly calculated, highways end up being nothing more than developer subsidies. Another fairy tale being told by the commissioners is that this highway will make Billingsley Road "safer". This highway does not "replace" Billingsley and the commissioners should tell the truth - highways and the sprawl spawned by them INCREASE traffic on surrounding roads and would make Billingsley MORE dangerous. Instead of intentional disregard, why haven't the commissioners addressed safety concerns by implementing well known traffic calming devices? Are they going to be concerned about the children who live within 500 feet of the highway who will suffer from reduced lung function as a result of the airborne particulates from the highway? (The highway is cutting right through two large developments.) The commissioners say they are committed to protecting Mattawoman Creek but page 6 of this document on the county website http://www.charlescounty.org/pgm/planning/plans/environmental/mattawoman/plan/plan.pdf documents the planned future distruction of Mattawoman Creek. When the commissioners say they cannot protect the creek without the highway, it clearly highlights their lack of committment to Smart Growth in out county and the critical need to dramatically improve local land use policies to achieve Smart Growth. Charles County's commissioners ought to be fighting to save Mattawoman Creek (not fighting to destroy it) by concentrating future growth in our existing urban core, Waldorf, by creating a verticle, mixed use, walkable, transit oriented community. It seems however, our commissioners are still reading from a 1950 copy of "Sprawl for Dummies" where the moral of the story is that highways never get smaller; they only keep getting bigger.

[Cheryl Thomas]

As far back as I can remember the various Boards of Commissioners have always been pro development, going back to St. Charles in the late 50's,

Unfortunately, the current board has failed to learn from past mistakes....

There's so much money at stake regarding this "development corridor" there's no telling what kind of "deals" have been struck behind closed doors.

The Commissioners are only paying "lip service" to the Mattawoman - their "commitment" to saving the Mattawoman is political rhetoric, nothing more.

The true objective is to develop as much of the County as much and as quickly as possible...regardless of the damage it will cause to the Mattawoman and all our other natural resources including our depleting aquifers!

[Car Rental LAX]

Great vacation you had. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm planning to travel to europe for summer, italy. What are your sugesstions?

[vacations in USA]

What a great picture! Must a have a nice camera to take such a shot! I love zoom in pics. I love traveling- and enjoy the pictures the most hehe :)