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July 27, 2003McManus interference in Clous case is wrongState Sen. Michelle McManus says her intervention in a local wetlands dispute is simply an effort to help a farmer being harassed and denied the right to farm.The officials who have been on the receiving end of the senator's letters and phone calls, however, have a more accurate description of her campaign: intimidation. McManus needs to back off and let environmental regulators do their jobs and get back to her own, which doesn't include representing Grand Traverse County or telling its elected officials what to do. The whole thing began about five years ago when developer Bill Clous, who owns Eastwood Construction, went to the Grand Traverse County drain commissioner with plans to develop land in East Bay Township's Mitchell Creek Watershed. A study showed that much of the property was wetlands and contained a couple streams, drain commissioner Maureen Templeton said. Last year, however, Clous began filling as many as 90 acres of wetlands and streams there, and Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Dennis LaBelle told him to stop. When he didn't, LaBelle said, LaBelle charged Clous with willful violation of soil erosion control laws, a civil infraction that carries a penalty of up to $10,000 a day. The case is pending. McManus, Clous and his attorney have said farmers can claim an agricultural exemption to environmental regulations. But the state Department of Environmental Quality has said the case is one of the "most egregious" the agency has ever seen. "It is not as simple as a farmer moving around a little dirt," DEQ spokesperson Patricia Spitzley said. "This was several acres of wetlands that were filled, a couple of streams that were destroyed." In a letter to Templeton, McManus - after first noting that the politically powerful McManus family has "known the Clous family for years" - said she was sure the work on the Clous property was "in compliance with state law." Templeton said she understood the underlying message: "It's a way to tell a public official to back off." When Clous was to meet with the DEQ, McManus - chair of the senate subcommittee for appropriations for the DEQ - faxed the agency a list of concerns. The whole thing reeks. It's not about science, the law or the environment. It's about arm-twisting and intimidation. To top it all off, McManus doesn't even represent Grand Traverse County. The people who do - Sen. Jason Allen and Rep. Howard Walker, both Traverse City Republicans - are nowhere to be seen. Allen's only comment so far? "Michelle's been a very good friend," he said. What does that mean? What does that have to do with wetlands? What does that have to do with a state official's attempt to put the muscle on two local elected officials in his district? LaBelle, Templeton and the DEQ need to judge the case on its merits. And McManus needs to let them do that without bullying. Clous must be judged on what he's done, not who he knows.
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