Charles Connector's Final Stages Threaten Wetlands, Group Says

The final segments of the cross-county connector in Charles County would destroy more than seven acres of environmentally sensitive wetlands and lead to uncontrolled residential development, Chesapeake Bay Foundation officials said.

In a report sent to federal and state officials who will decide the fate of the controversial roadway, the foundation says that Charles leaders have underestimated the environmental damage that would be caused by construction of the road's final phases, which would link Route 5 and Indian Head Highway, crossing the Mattawoman Creek.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment are expected to decide whether to issue permits so the project can be completed or to order a full environmental impact study.

"We are not confident that the natural resources that will be affected by the current proposal have been adequately quantified," wrote Kim Coble, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation's executive director for Maryland, in a report sent last week. "Neither are we certain that the primary and secondary impacts resulting from the project have been fully identified, avoided and minimized."

Plans for the cross-county connector have long angered environmental activists. They say the resulting damage would be catastrophic for the Mattawoman watershed, which has been called one of the most environmentally valuable tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. In July, dozens of speakers, many wearing green stickers saying "Save Mattawoman Creek," spoke during a five-hour public hearing on the issue.

But county officials, who are eager to move forward with the $70 million project, say they have gone to great lengths to minimize environmental damage from the highway and improve water quality in the creek. Using "green" technology and adjusted work practices has preserved other area wetlands, they say, and a county environmental impact study has cleared up questions about the connector's impact.

"The citizens need to know how much has already been spent to study the environmental impact," said Wayne Cooper (D-At Large), president of the Board of County Commissioners, estimating the total at $650,000. "We have done everything in our power to move forward in a green way."

County officials say the connector is essential to ease commuting for residents who work in the District or drive to Waldorf to shop and dine.

If the Army Corps of Engineers decides that an environmental impact study is necessary, the project -- already more than a year behind schedule -- could be delayed for two more years and add $350,000 to the county's costs, Cooper said. The commissioners agree that a full study is unnecessary.

"A lot of the arguments about the impact are purely speculative," said Reuben B. Collins II (D-Waldorf). "The county has already ensured that the environmental impact will be minimal."

In its report, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation took issue with county officials' calculations, saying that the highway's construction violates state and federal laws governing water quality.

If the Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of the Environment are to consider issuing permits for the destruction of wetlands and waterways, Coble wrote, "the public must be fully informed about the locations and extent of each proposed resource loss . . . and a full accounting of the cumulative impacts of the road and the development it will induce."

The window of time for residents to submit comments on the cross-county connector to the Corps of Engineers expired Monday. Officials had not released information about when they plan to issue a decision.