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Excavated Pond Not a Wetland
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1992.tb07277.x
Subject(s) - wetland , enforcement , recreation , law , appeal , environmental science , geography , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental protection , ecology , political science , geology , geotechnical engineering , biology
In 1977, Francis G. Warcewicz excavated a pond on his land to be used for recreational purposes. The 41,000‐sq‐ft pond was bordered on all sides by vegetated wetlands approximately 20 feet wide. In 1986, contrary to an order of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Warcewicz filled in the pond and the bordering vegetated wetlands. The DEP then issued a second enforcement order and assessed a penalty in the amount of $75,000. Warcewicz appealed the assessment to the courts but lost. The appellate court noted that the State Wetlands Protection Act prohibited filling wetlands as well as land under a pond. “Pond” was defined as an open body of fresh water either naturally occurring or man‐made by impoundment. On second appeal, however, the court stated that DEP had given a strained interpretation to the regulation and that the excavated pond could not be included fairly within the category of ponds man‐made by impoundment. The court reversed the enforcement order and penalty.