Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 26

Page 14 JOHNSON CITY PRESSTfiE ERWIN RECORD Tuesday July 4 1995 -y 7 Project forced DOT to steer new course MWV4 IWWWIt VWt Press Stall Writaf FLAG POND The new US Highway 23 snakes its way over South Indian Creek through the Appalachian forests and up Sams Gap to the North Carolina border People who drive or hike near here can see the challenges created by building a 15-mile stretch of highway along what many people hope will eventually become part of Interstate 26 While the state Department of Transportation passed its engineering test US District Court in Nashville in 1992 found the DOT failed to meet many basic environmental standards during the initial stages of the $170 million road construction project Because of that lawsuit and a different permitting process that hadnt then emerged the DOT has changed the way it manages the Tennessee road-building projects said Luanne Grandinetti DOT spokeswoman The Tennessee Environmental Council the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club and Good Earth Defense had filed the lawsuit The environmentalists had sued the DOT for failing to provide erosion control or allow for animal migration in its initial plans saying the DOT violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it failed to develop an adequate environmental impact statement The DOT was already working on changing these things but this probably speeded along the process Ms Grandinetti said (The lawsuit) picked up the pace considerably The state Department of Environment and Conservation eventually levied a civil penalty of $87625 in 1992 after the state DOT and its subcontractors were issued two notices for 72 violations of water quality standards Some erosion-control measures were already in place before the notices and the lawsuit but the state DEC deemed those inadequate The DOT eventually utilized 119 acres of erosion-control matting 20 miles of temporary silt fencing to slow down the erosion and 115 miles of temporary slope pipe Erosion control was Photo by Charles Edwards The Erwin Record An area known as Rices Bend shows the projects impact but ecological consultants were hired and other action taken to lessen effects trees along the banks to hold the soil in place Isaacs said The DOT already plans on doing this At the time the state DEC wrote its notices environmental officials were not certain whether the state government could actu- the small streams There are 15 miles of road there with a stream in every hollow as well as major streams Isaacs said I would classify this (road project) as a major disturbance to Hie watershed There have been some changes se tse- projects It helped them to know someone was looking over their shoulder Stubblefield said Although the groups stated goal was to get the DOT to tunnel through mountains and build bridges between the hollows the suit was settled when Tennessee agreed to hire ecological consultants and build massive sedimentation fields The DOT was also required to build Uo bear tunnels known as bear boxes that are meant to allow the big animals to travel underneath the interstate Stud ies are still under way to determine whether the bears will actually use these alternate paths The court eventually required DOT to lengthen its contract with ETSU to monitor water quality perform fishery surveys and hire both a soil bioengineer and an independent erosion consultant i Theres no hard cold data out there to address how long it takes a system to recover from a major impact like this Isaacs said The DOT also appointed an ix'omiiiiit'ul ibufy Com mission to oversee the planning of any future road projects Ms Grandinetti said also assisted by 38000 bales of hay Tom Isaacs state DEC Division of Water Pollution Control environmental specialist inspected the new section of Highway 23 a few days before it opened to the public On the surface it looks like its beginning to heal up Isaacs said Dr Philip Scheuerman an East Tennessee State University microbiologist who has a conu aci with the DOT to monitor South Indian Creek has still found significant degradation in some of Brian Stubblefield Good Earth Defense- president and Sierra Club treasurer took hours of videotape showing the clear cuts that produced massive runoff and muddied spring-fed streams Since then Stubblefield said hes noticed the DOT making more of an effort at various road in water chemistry Isaacs said and the insect community thd fish feed upon is starting to decline The bottom of the channels are getting covered with silt at bume (iiiuiuUuiiig otaliona Isaacs said There is more mitigation that needs to be done such as planting Small) Banking TMt Works Unicoi County Memorial Hospital proudly salutes the State of Tennessee on the opening of the new US 23 Highway and gratefully acknowledges the efforts of State Rep Zane Whitson for his role in seeing this dream realized First American Salutes Northeast Tennessee On IkE Completion Of 'Die US 23 Highway Certainly there are enough banks to choose from if you think banking is just a matter of getting the numbers right At First American we think banking is a matter of getting your financial future right And thats more than just addition and subtraction thats knowing what to do to the numbers to get them right for you ry banking at a bank that believes before anything else banking is for peopleFirst American I Where banking fts tin a people business MwibsFDIC rai i i.