‘Exceedingly rare’ ecosystem mined for decades
11/16/13
Two Humboldt County residents who pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges earlier this week for mining wetlands without a permit have agreed to pay $320,000 in fines — one of the highest penalties ever given to noncorporate defendants in California, officials said.
“This case is unusual because peat in itself is very rare in the state,” said Matthew Carr, deputy district attorney for the California District Attorneys Association and prosecutor. “Many of our wetlands are coastal wetlands; peatlands are exceedingly rare in the state.” Bridgeville resident Daniel Michael Wojcik was accused of operating a large-scale, industrial surface peat mine — a material made of partially decayed vegetation that accumulates in wetlands — without a permit near the Van Duzen River and profiting off the sales without a business license within a timber production zone.
He was also accused of illegally diverting water, selling the illegally diverted water, grading without a permit, developing near a stream without a permit and altering a work site without approval.
Because it contains a high amount of carbon, peat is harvested — or “mined” — off the top of surface groundwater for fuel. Permits are required under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975.
“Peat takes hundreds, if not thousands, of years to develop,” Carr said, adding that surface mining itself is fairly common. “Most of our gravel comes from surface mining of dry streambeds.” According to a five-count felony complaint filed by Carr in February 2011, Wojcik began mining in the area in the late 1980s.
Officials said he expanded his operation to two other lakes in 1988 and cleared 5.3 acres of forest in 2000 to set up a processing plant next to a 11.6 acre lake owned by Fortuna resident Robert Henry Wotherspoon. That lake was mined through the summer of 2011.
The complaint states that based on the amount of drying peat at the processing plant in May 2010, Wojcik illegally removed an estimated minimum of 27,250 cubic yards from the lake on Wotherspoon’s property. Wojcik was selling shredded peat at $60 per cubic yard, making the value more than $1.6 million.
“This was considered a priority case because of the apparent willful violations on an exceedingly rare ecosystem,” Carr said.
Humboldt Baykeeper Policy Director Jennifer Kalt said she had heard of the “mythical” peat lakes in the area, but has never seen one because they are on private property.
“It’s one of the rarest habitats in the whole county, probably Northern California,” she said. “I’m really sad to see that this was done. It’s good that they’re making them restore it, but I don’t know how you restore something like that.” Under the settlement, Wotherspoon agreed to grant the state permanent access to the damaged site so it can be used as a “living laboratory” to study the rare ecosystem. He will also pay a penalty of $130,804 and serve 100 hours of community service.
Wojcik will pay a penalty of $189,222 and serve 500 hours of community service. He must also address zoning and code enforcement issues, replant timberland in certain affected areas and restore the ponds that were allegedly mined prior to 2000.
The defendants are required to restore the area “well above what would be required” by law under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act by maximizing peat regeneration and the flow of cold water from a nearby spring into Van Duzen River.
Carr said the defendants could not be asked to restore the habitat to the way it was before because it could take hundreds of years.
The case began when the state Department of Fish and Wildlife began investigating the area after one of its environmental scientists noticed the operation while taking aerial photographs. With assistance from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, CalFire and the Humboldt County Department of Planning, the case was submitted to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Because of staffing shortages, District Attorney Paul Gallegos referred the case to the Circuit Prosecutor Project — which was set up to handle the prosecution of complex environmental cases in rural Northern California — at the California District Attorneys Association in Sacramento.
“The defendants are to be given credit for working with all the parties in the settlement,” Carr said. “One of the principle goals, if not the principle goal, was to restore the peat in the area.”
