First let’s start with what happened. Waitsfield – and over 100 towns in Vermont – performed instream work following Irene-related flooding. In Waitsfield’s case and in Warren, Moretown and Fayston, the work in the river was done with the express permission of the state of Vermont.
That permission was given on behalf of the state as well as the Army Corps of Engineers which permits the state to give such permission in times of emergency. Waitsfield (and all those other towns in Vermont) relied on state permission to do emergency work in the river.
And now, more than two months after the flooding, it turns out the federal scrutiny is focused solely on Waitsfield and Middlebury. Why?
When asked, the feds report that Waitsfield’s request to the Army Corps for expediting a pre-existing permit for streambank stabilization on the west side of the Mad River upstream of the covered bridge triggered a review. The reviewer came here and saw the town’s contractor performing the work that the state had authorized and said the work requested in the Army Corps permit was being completed without a federal permit.
But the work was being completed with a state permit that included a de facto federal permit that the state is allowed to issue in emergencies. It was an emergency.
Something does not add up completely here. If the state did not have permission to issue the general permit on behalf of the feds, then the fact that Waitsfield had an application pending should not make a bit of difference. If the state could not permit what Waitsfield did, it could not permit what Warren or Hancock or Mendon or Pittsfield or Wardsboro or Bennington or Quechee or Stockbridge, etc. did.
So all those towns should have letters from the feds too. And presumably the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources should also have a letter from the feds challenging its issuance of permits for post-flood work.
And why hasn’t the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, led by one of the state’s most capable people, stepped in to intercede on behalf of the towns?
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