As part of the public comment period and at one of the three public meetings on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s proposed change to the definition of what constitutes “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS), Theaux Le Gardeur provided written and oral testimony to inform the proposed definition change and to advocate for the protections our communities and their waterways deserve.
Le Gardeur’s testimony on the WOTUS definition change at the Pittsburgh comment session is reproduced below:
I would like to thank EPA and the Dept. of the Army for holding this comment period and allowing me to testify against this change in the definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). My name is Theaux Le Gardeur and I am speaking from the traditional lands of the Algonquin speaking Delaware and Susquehannock peoples.
I’m providing comments today with two hats, one as a commercial fishing guide license holder and a license agent for the state of Maryland that has sold licenses to residents of 37 of 50 states. The upper watershed area act as an economic engine for recreation-based tourism much as Bethlehem Steel supported Baltimore’s ship building economy -the difference being the watershed and resources are still intact.
As a small business owner that relies on clear water and native, state threatened fish like the Eastern Brook Trout fish currently protected under WOTUS, I believe that the new definition of WOTUS will cause immediate and irreparable harm to the resource, and my livelihood. I also have 30 years of experience serving environmental nonprofits in Maryland and have served as the Executive Director and Riverkeeper at Gunpowder Riverkeeper for 14 years. We have 502 supporters in 17 states that not only have environmental interests but recreational, aesthetic and property interests in the 800 square miles watershed areas which include the Gunpowder, Little Gunpowder, Bird, Bush and Middle Rivers from the Piedmont to the Coastal plain as the 4th largest freshwater input into the Chesapeake Bay.
Gunpowder Riverkeepers territory comprises 800 square miles of watershed area and where the Gunpowder, Little Gunpowder, and Bird River form a Bird’s foot Delta. We notably have state threatened Eastern Brook Trout in the upper watershed and Federally Endangered Atlantic Sturgeon protected under the Endangered Species Act in the tidal basin. We also have 26 species of fish that spawn in the tidal basin which are important for recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing.
If clarification of the definition of WOTUS is what the agencies would like to achieve, with all due respect you’ve roundly missed the mark. The new definition introduces uncertainty into permitting and national water quality protections. The new definitions under WOTUS seem to be policy oriented rather than having a scientifically based description. For instance, “Wet season,” “Extreme Drought,” and “Relatively Permanent” are not defined.
This rule would exclude 73.5 M acres of wetlands Nationally that’s 80% of wetlands currently afforded protections under WOTUS. At present we have over 1,192 acres of isolated wetlands within the Gunpowder and Bush Watersheds that are habitat for Bog Turtles protected under the Endangered Species Act.
In the recent past, EPA has described the Gunpowder Watershed as having, ‘Nationally Significant Coldwater resources during an Environmental Assessment of a large-scale infrastructure project in the area as “nationally Significant coldwater resources”.
Because the Gunpowder drains a 450 square mile watershed area that starts in a complex of seeps and springs in York and Adams counties PA, and then travels across Carroll, Baltimore and Harford Counties, it is comprised of 217 miles with designated and existing uses of cold water and drinking water supply streams. The new definitions posed in WOTUS are worrisome, notably, the Interstate water exclusion, and the loss of protection under WOTUS of stream segments without beds or banks.
We use a turn of phrase here at Gunpowder Riverkeeper called “Forest to Faucet” that exemplifies the connection with upstream surface water sources and quality drinking water or 1.5 million Baltimore Metro-Area residents. We have two Dams, Pretty Boy and Loch Raven that, if the new definition holds, “obstruct water flow” and so by the new definition would leave the streams and rivers in over 400 square miles of watershed area in the Upper watershed unprotected by WOTUS.
While I greatly appreciate the staff from both agencies and we do work in a collaborative stance, the new definition is overreach and unacceptable.
We don’t take litigation lightly here at Gunpowder Riverkeeper as we exhaust all other remedies such as education, outreach, and advocacy first, but the removal of these protections opens significant litigation risk as there appears to be no scoping or consistency with the Safe Drinking Water Act or the Endangered Species Act.
Thank you for allowing me to provide comments in this matter.
Theaux M. Le Gardeur
Executive Director and Riverkeeper, Gunpowder Riverkeeper
1207 Sparks Rd
Sparks, MD 21152