EPA reaches wetlands settlement

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101220/NEWS01/712219959/0#epa-reaches-wetlands-settlement

Published Monday December 20, 2010

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Environmental Protection Agency says it has reached a $65,000 settlement with two Dakota Dunes men who impacted nearly 22 acres of wetlands near the Missouri River in Dixon County, Neb., with unauthorized excavation and dredging.

The EPA says Kevin Vaughan did the work on land owned by Bryce Andersen without getting necessary permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Vaughan has submitted a draft work plan for restoring the site.

A corps representative who inspected the property in 2006 documented a discharge of dredged material into the river that altered its natural flow by disconnecting its backwaters and tributaries, including Turkey Creek.

The EPA says Vaughan told the agency that the work was done to create a hunting habitat for himself and his associates. — AP