Local citizens, along with the Traverse Group of the Sierra Club, the Sweetwater Alliance and members of the Northern Michigan Environmental Council (NMEAC), staged a series of protests during July to bring attention to a series of wetland and stream violations by Eastwood Construction Companies and its president, William Clous.

The violations of state environmental laws were cited in an August 15, 2002 Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Notice of Violation. The notice called for all earth-moving activity at the site in East Bay Township near Traverse City to stop immediately. Instead, Clous ignored the order and proceeded to destroy three streams and about 90 acres of critical wetlands in the Mitchell Creek Watershed less than a mile from Grand Traverse Bay. Excavation work was not stopped until April 15, 2003.

Bob Russell, a spokesman for the environmental groups, said, "We are very concerned, because it is taking so long for enforcement actions to kick in. In that nine-month period when work did not stop at the site, all the wetlands and streams were destroyed. We believe stiff fines should have been assessed months ago by the local prosecutor and DEQ. We are still hopeful EPA may take jurisdiction to make certain all laws will be thoroughly enforced."

"This episode has outraged many of our members and attracted attention throughout the state," NMEAC Chair Ken Smith wrote in a letter to the Grand Traverse County Commission. "It is one of the largest acts of wetland destruction in our region." In addition to the DEQ notice, Grand Traverse County Drain Commissioner Maureen Templeton issued stop-work orders on Clous earlier last August. Again, Clous ignored the orders, paid a $500 fine and proceeded to dig into the wetlands and streams.

Last April, DEQ asked for enforcement help from the Attorney General's office. On April 22, 2003, an agreement was struck between Assistant Attorney General Peter Manning and Matthew Vermetten, Clous's attorney, that lists a number of activities to "stabilize the site and reduce the potential for further disruption of wetlands and streams." The agreement calls for wetland delineations, stream stabilization and for DEQ to expedite review of the permit applications recently submitted for several stream crossings and ponds on the property. A DEQ public hearing on the permits is scheduled for August or September in Traverse City.

Vermetten has claimed repeatedly Clous is exempt from DEQ or Grand Traverse County permitting because he is a farmer. Templeton, however, says what happened on Clous's property goes beyond what the law would allow under agricultural exemption. Senator Michelle McManus has also written letters of support for Clous and claims he is violating no laws at the site. Her district does not include Grand Traverse County.

But Patricia Spitzley, a DEQ press spokesperson, says, "It is not as simple as a farmer moving around a little dirt. This was several acres of wetlands that were filled and a couple of streams that were destroyed."

For more information on this issue, go to ventingmedia.com/clous for photographs and a complete summary of violations.