A plan to create wetlands adjacent to Weems Creek in Annapolis using rubble from the Ridgely Avenue bridge is in jeopardy because of a dispute between state and federal officials over a nearby project, a local environmental leader said.
William Moulden, president of the Severn River Association, has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to sink 550 tons of the bridge, which is due to be replaced, to create wetlands.
But, he said, his permit application "is in the Dumpster right now," because the State Highway Administration (SHA) has yet to live up to its federal permit for the disposal of the old Severn River Bridge.
Mr. Moulden said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers went out of its way to help him draft permit applications and then expedited its review so that he could create an oyster reef last fall out of rubble from the old span. The federal support reduced the review process from 18 months to 2 1/2 months, helping to ensure the success of the project, he said.
The permit stipulated that 280 feet of the old bridge would be left as a fishing pier extending from Jonas Green State Park. But SHA officials, ordered the contractor to leave 560 feet of the bridge standing while they considered a longer pier.
That decision irked U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials and put his Weems Creek plan in jeopardy, Mr. Moulden said.
The federal engineers told him "in very heated language . . . I'd never get another permit" because they feel "that something very underhanded has gone on here," Mr. Moulden said. "They feel they have been betrayed."
Corps officials have reminded the SHA in a letter that the permit is for a 280-foot pier and warned that any change probably would require hearings and a new permit. The agency asked SHA to avoid a confrontation.
The state has until June 30 to meet its permit obligations for the old Severn River Bridge, said Linda Greene, corps spokeswoman. The agency could take legal action against the state after that.
The committee advising the Maryland Department of Natural Resources on pier design met last week for the first time. Mr. Moulden urged its members to help him resolve the matter so that he can get the Weems Creek project on track. "I need Weems Creek bridge. I want you to fix it and get that bridge back for me," he told the committee.
The committee is urging the SHA to stick with the 280-foot pier, and state highway officials say they are "leaning toward" that, with a formal decision due soon.
Corps officials said the proposal to turn rubble from the bridge into wetlands is not dead yet, but they have not received information from the SHA that would help complete the application process.