ICC Environmental Projects Cut – County Cries Foul

Administrators for the Inter County Connector have removed or reclassified a number of environmental plans in Prince George’s County from the proposed scope of work, replacing them with projects in Montgomery County. Is this payback for opposition to the proposed road?

Prince George’s County Council members are accusing officials overseeing construction of the Intercounty Connector of penalizing the county by canceling or changing more of its environmental projects than those in Montgomery County.

ICC officials said they plan to cut some previously required environmental projects and reclassify others because the highway’s final design ended up sparing almost a mile more of streams and 30 more acres of wetlands and forests than they’d planned for, leaving less environmental damage for them to offset.

Three of 10 stream and wetlands restoration projects in Prince George’s have been replaced with similar work in Montgomery, and none of the remaining Prince George’s projects is needed as part of the federal approval process. They have been reclassified as part of the state’s voluntary efforts to repair environmental damage that occurred before the highway’s construction.

Montgomery lost two wetlands restoration projects but added three projects and retained 30 others. Six of those were reclassified from required “mitigation” to voluntary “stewardship” programs.

During a hearing Thursday, council Chairman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Laurel) told ICC officials that the changes largely spared Montgomery, whose public officials pushed for the highway, at the expense of Prince George’s, whose council had objected to it.

“I guess because we’ve been so opposed to the road, this is payback from the State Highway Administration,” Dernoga said.

The environmental projects remaining in Prince George’s “are very minor compared to what’s left in Montgomery.”

One Comment

1. Council Chairman Thomas Dernoga is correct to object to the ICC offset process that appears to be penalizing Prince Georgians for not supporting this abomination of a highway. There is no question that the transportation system of the county need to be upgraded but there must be alternatives to this road. I am concerned about the destruction of our streams and forest and the construction of roads which will create higher density levels within the county. There appears to be a move toward high population density within the Hyattsville/College Park area and I wonder if this project is just another leg of less than smart growth. I prefer open fields; park land and pedestrian friendly development which allows our future generations the opportunity to walk among trees and feel grass under their feet. I lament the lack of a public transportation system within the county that promotes smarts growth and people friendly development that allows for the needs of individuals over the desires of a few developers and financial institutions.

   Comment by tcannady - February 1, 2010 @ 2:39 am