8/3/2005

Manklin Creek Group seeks assistance of county
By Bob Lassahn

During the July 26 session of the Worcester County Commissioners the Manklin Creek Group (MCG), approximately 60 property owners with the stated purpose of seeking improvement and revitalization of the creek, appeared before the commissioners seeking support for their endeavor. MCG Chairman Ted Markiewicz and Secretary Tom Longo represented the group at the meeting supported by a Senior Environmental Ecologist of Biohabitats, Inc.

The MCG has raised more than $17,000 from 43 households, most committing to a requested $500 contribution. The group contracted with Biohabitats, Inc. of Timonium, Maryland to develop a suggested environmental amelioration (improvement) project that would involve dredging the center of the creek and using the spoils to create marshlands along the edges where mud flats now exist. The degradation of the creek has been attributed largely to silting from storm water runoff.

The MCG has been meeting with numerous agencies including the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the Critical Areas Commission, the Maryland Department of the Environment and Maryland Department of Natural Resources. All have expressed some interest and encouragement regarding the suggested project but thus far no commitment to funding has occurred.

Following the presentation the commissioners briefly discussed the positive merits of the project and lauded the efforts of the MCG but stopped short of committing funds to the project as suggested by Mr. Markiewicz. He commented he hoped the commissioners might consider an amount at least matching the MCG contributions to date. According to Commissioner Sonny Bloxom the timing was a problem since the budget has already been passed.

County Attorney Ed Hammond offered the opinion that the group might create a public watershed association and “tax themselves” to fund the project but the idea went no further. In the end the best that the commissioners would offer was a pledge to create a working group and provide county assistance in exploring potential funding sources.

The MCG’s environmental improvement project for the creek might be traced to an earlier, failed effort to restore the creek to a navigable condition by dredging the channel. The broader issue of environmental improvement grew from this issue to concerns regarding the degraded condition of the creek and the existence of the mud flats that are considered a hazard, since anyone venturing into these areas could quickly sink deep into the accumulation of muck.

The expected results of the project would yield marshes where the mud flats currently exist and could restore a channel about three feet in depth at the center of the creek, providing some navigation capability for small craft. Beyond remediation efforts on the creek itself, further work would be necessary to storm water runoff into the creek to prevent the situation from reoccurring.

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