`heaven And Earth' 
Is Vintage Stone

Above, Rick Derringer Heads Up A Multi-talented Roster Of Musical Guests 
Including, Right, Dead Letters.

By JIM VAN NOSTRAND; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Friday, January 07, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: AREA GOLF CLUB STIRS
DER'S IRE 





LEHMAN TWP. -- The Huntsville Golf Club bulldozed several acres of
regulated wetlands without a permit last summer while building its new golf
course, a government official said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The state Department of Environmental Resources may fine the club more than
$2,000 and require new wetlands be created to replace those lost, said DER
spokesman Mark Carmon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The club also might face significantly greater penalties from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Carmon said. The Corps official handling the case could
not be reached for comment Thursday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No permit application for the construction work was ever filed with DER as
required by law, Carmon said. A DER inspector visited the site Aug. 20 and
reported about 4.45 acres of wetlands had been affected. A violation notice
was sent to club officials Oct. 8. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The club's engineer, George Evans of Killam Associates, said he wasn't
aware the acreage was a wetland before he ordered the excavation of an
irrigation pond. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The property in question is a former farm field near the Penn State
Wilkes-Barre campus. The field drains storm water off Hayfield Road, Evans
said. The club needed an extra pond for water storage to supply the course in
case of drought. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We didn't feel there were wetlands in those fields," Evans said.
"Visually, there wasn't anything to indicate they were wetlands." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ned Connolly, a Luzerne contractor who dug the hole for the pond at Evans'
direction, said it also wasn't apparent to him that the field was a wetland. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "You can't really tell if it is or it isn't," Connolly said. "There wasn't
a swamp there with four feet of water." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 DER is treating the case as a serious violation, Carmon said. Soil surveys
that classify the site as wetlands are readily available through government
sources, and he questioned why developers spending $10 million to build a golf
course could overlook such a detail. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They obviously should have known better," Carmon said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In a separate matter, DER also is investigating a road built through a
quarter-acre of wetlands elsewhere on club property, Carmon said. He expects
the department to mail out a violation notice for that soon, but isn't sure if
the club will be penalized. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Huntsville officials are negotiating with DER and the Corps about how many
acres of wetlands they'll have to restore or create. DER generally requires
two acres be created for every acre destroyed. It's unclear whether the water
in the new pond could be counted as wetlands. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're hopeful we can settle the situation amicably," said Richard Caputo,
one of the club's founding directors. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Huntsville is the second private golf club in the area to be accused of
encroaching on wetlands last summer. In December, it was revealed that
Glenmaura National Golf Club in Moosic bulldozed an acre of wetlands in late
August without a required federal permit. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The federal Environmental Protection Agency still is considering whether to
fine Glenmaura or simply require the wetlands be replaced. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wetlands are a recurring headache for golf course designers nationwide and
in Pennsylvania, according to both industry and environmental groups. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Environmentalists fear the pesticides and other chemicals, which are used
to keep fairways and putting greens in top shape, will seep into the water
table. Golf courses use huge amounts of water and often are sited in scenic or
pastoral locations, setting up confrontations with groups that want such
environments preserved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of the 12 golf courses built in Pennsylvania in the past four years, nine
have been cited by government agencies for wetlands violations, said Ed Perry,
assistant director of the Fish and Wildlife Service's field office in State
College. The developers rarely were fined. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There are more than 14,000 golf courses in the U.S., with thousands more on
the drawing boards. Brian Cullen, a spokesman for the American Society of Golf
Course Architects, said wetlands are a "staggering" issue for developers that
will continue to be a challenge in 1994. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Golf course developers must navigate a maze of federal and state
bureaucracies to get a project approved, Cullen said. Even so, more and more
architects are making design improvements to ensure more courses are
environmentally friendly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The issue is not going to abate anytime soon," Cullen said.

Area Golf Club Stirs Der's Ire An Engineer Says He Didn't See Anything To Indicate He Would Destroy Wetlands In Building A Golf Course