Liberty University fined for wetland damage
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By Sarah Watson
Published: August 19, 2008
Liberty University will pay about $9,200 in fines imposed by the state Department of Environmental Quality for wetland and stream damage caused by dorm construction.
The damage is considered minor, DEQ enforcement officer Marvin Booth said. It involves a small amount of forested wetlands and 65 feet of a small stream next to the Campus East residence halls.
DEQ also is ordering the university to create a small amount of new buffer zones on an existing stream in the same watershed to make up for the damage, Booth said.
“We try to match the impacts with the civil charge. This was a minimal impact, so this is not that large of a fine,” Booth said. “This whole process is part of making developers aware of what’s out there and what they’re supposed to avoid.”
LU chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said the university is not at fault and if challenged in court, the DEQ would not be able to prove the impacts were out of line with the permit.
“If anyone made a mistake, it was our surveyor and we weren’t willing to take a big hit on it, so we made a counter-offer,” Falwell said. “I just see it as harassment by the DEQ. They’re trying to control everybody’s property in the state of Virginia.”
DEQ initially proposed about $30,000 in fines, but LU countered with a $9,270 fine, which DEQ accepted, Falwell said. “Sometimes it’s cheaper just to settle than to pay attorneys, even if you’re innocent.”
A public comment period on the consent order began Monday and the State Water Control Board will likely finalize the document Oct. 16, Booth said.
The Liberty East, Phase III December 2006 permit application said 281 feet of an intermittent stream would be relocated to a storm sewer. A small amount of forested wetlands located next to the stream and just above where the dorms were built was explicitly labeled as off limits, the order said.
In March 2007, a DEQ site inspection found that .01 acres of the wetlands were destroyed and an extra 65 feet of the stream had been channelized and shored up with riprap, the order said.
A violation notice was sent in June 2007, which also said builders didn’t mark wetland areas and didn’t implement proper erosion and sediment controls.
“This particular permit said the wetland was indicated as a non-impact, which means they were supposed to stay out and that’s not what happened,” Booth said. “There wasn’t much there to destroy, so when you do anything, it’s gone.”
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Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 24, 2008 at 4:35 pm
javaman,,now do you pick on retards,,blind people,,studdering folksi guess i just have to sign or change my name,,to dsylexia,,which means that i,m on a 3 rd grade level,,funny you got that right,,and my aint is my red-neck,,gett-er-done,,dialect..anyway the private college i went to ..ulike liberty ranks in the top 100,,and i know you wont believe this one,,but my sat scores,,are in the top 10% of the nation,,so they allowed me a handycap status,,because if i were to open my mouth you would find that i have a great vocabulary,articulet,verbalization skills,,so at the private college they LOCKED me up in rat room,,(lab dept)and watch me through the 2 way mirrors,,to make sure i didnt cheat,,gave me twice the allowed time for exams,,cause they were all written,,didnt need time for multi-choice,,i read fast,,talk fast,,but writtin,,i gotta print,,and it gets all scrambled in my head,,and they didnt grade me on grammar,spelling,,just if the content was there,,like you do and thats most important is that you do understand what i,m saying,,kinda like a driver who cant DRIVE,,we all know one of them !,,anyway so you r gonna get liberty to fix that mountain ,replace all them stones w/greenary,,sign dsylexia
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Posted by ( junyavasity ) on August 24, 2008 at 2:18 pm
freedom..what college did you attend that teaches you to say “aint you ever seen”, misspell babylon, monograms, and mccain? And I am voting for Obama.. you see. You see LU teaches how to think critically, even though you would just like to blindly think otherwise. You should attend a class there. Might I suggest remedial english? Perhaps Lca has a class where you could learn to spell with the third graders.
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Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 24, 2008 at 10:24 am
,,hey javavaristy ,,back at you,,we are atill waithing for you to plant them trees on the mo nogram,,aint you everseen momnograms made out of trees,hedges,boxwoods,mankind has been doing that for thousands of years,,dont you read the bible and aint you ever heard of the BABALON GARDENS,,at this rate your college will never get rated more than mccaine did from his college days,,what 5th from the bottom in a class of 400,,yet vote for that over a OBAMA who was in the top 10 and grad in the top 2 college in usa,,
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Posted by ( junyavasity ) on August 23, 2008 at 10:51 pm
.o1 acres! I suppose all of you who are so upset over this outrageous destruction of the environment are all driving hybrids, recycling, never using plastic bags, and planting trees in your spare time. It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant lynchburg really is.
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Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 22, 2008 at 7:06 pm
REALITY CHECK,,my tax dollars have more than paid for it,,in that LU dosent pay taxes,,so my taxes go up to offset your non payment of taxes,to cover my lpd/emt/infra-structures/roads/your bridges/your ramps/your tunnels!!,not to forget all those people you WRECK on the roads due to the mammonth distraction it poses ,,and raises my car insurance,,due to the fact that GEICO bases its charges on the overall age of the population ,,and police time and court time to charge your out-of state criminals that come here,,credit card ,unibombers , ABC store robbers,,gas runners,,just to mention a few,,all for religious peity,,yea
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Posted by ( Verite ) on August 22, 2008 at 7:07 am
Every time Jerry Jr speaks he sounds less Christian. People often say WWJD (What would Jesus Do). Here is comparison between WWJD and WWJFD:
WWJD - Respect and protect the planet he created.
WWJFD - Abuse, use and destroy it for personal/professional gain.
WWJD - Honor and treat with respect those he disagrees with.
WWJFD - Insult, deride, and curse those he disagrees with.
WWJD - Accept responsibilities for his actions and pay the price.
WWJFD - Blame others and “negotiate” the price.
The contrast between WWJD and WWJFD is stark and sad.
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Posted by ( Reality Check ) on August 21, 2008 at 11:11 pm
If you people don’t like the monogram, then pull out your wallet and buy the mountain. Then, you can do what you want with it. LU paid good money for that mountain.
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Posted by ( one persons view ) on August 20, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I read the attachments for the June 11, 2008 Lynchburg City Council agenda which includes that Liberty was issued 20 notices to comply and 4 stop work orders issued in the past few years.
This is what the city shows for LU’s environmental record.
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Posted by ( Freedom ) on August 20, 2008 at 5:02 pm
SWB,,you flunk RELEGION !!re-read your bible,,it speaks of vanity,bosting,showing off,as some of the DEADLY sins,,and when GOD said i give you domion of the earth,,THIS is not what he ment to do with that power,,again please read the WORD!!and may he have mercy on you !
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Posted by ( BelleCherbuoy ) on August 20, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I am so sick of Liberty! They do nothing but take from Lynchburg, and never have given anything good back! Jr. is just like Sr. now! We now know what damage global warming is doing to our planet, and we know who to blame. When this world slowly self destructs in the next 9 or so years, I doubt that the Jerry Jr.‘s of this planet will care. They will just crank up the AC in another Liberty building, a laugh at all us poor folks that can’t afford it. They mock the environmentalists with their atroscities (and teach their students to do the same), and then are not held accountable for their actions.
The LU monogram, and now this?? Liberty is the WORST thing that has happened to Lynchburg and I hope the people of this city will wake up and run them out of town!!!
Obama ‘08
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