Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85652
When creating a wetland, evaluate the functions and values of the land it will replace, then consider how to improve on each. MITIGATION Wetlands early 15 years ago, a few cattails found in a portion of one of its quarries led Bechtels- ville, Pa.-based Martin Stone Quarries, Inc. to create wetlands that have not only extended the lifespan of its operation, but also yield- ed a long-term benefit for the company's education and outreach programs. N "There was a partially manmade swale that was in an old orchard on the property, and it had the three criteria that met the definition of a wetland," recalls Eric Gehman, who serves as senior sales representa- tive for the company and oversees the created wet- lands. Those three criteria include the presence of hydrology, hydric soils, and hydrophytic vegetation. Through federal and state permitting, Martin has been able to do a wetland mitigation project to re- place those wetlands. They found a proposed site for the new wetlands and performed hydrologic studies to determine that it had the hydrology needed to sustain a wetland. Once that was established, Martin was able to move forward with the design and con- struction of the site. "In my experience, proper planning of a wetland is going to pay dividends in the long run because it is such a long process," Gehman says of the design phase. "It's a long permitting process. It's a long pro- cess to monitor. If you don't look at it over the long term, a project could easily fail." He explains that construction projects are often short-term commitments where an operator builds the project and walks away. With a wetland, how- ever, the operator has long-term regulatory ties to Martin Stone Quarries leverages long-term benefits from wetlands creation. by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief WETLANDS 39