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In May, Dusty Rhodes brought in heavy equipment and headed for the Rapidan River, which runs along his Orange County farm near Somerset.
According to state and federal regulators, he blocked and diverted a section of the river, placed tons of fill material in the Rapidan, built an access road and denuded part of the riverbank--all without obtaining the proper permits.
Rhodes' project has drawn a stop-work order from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a letter of violation from Orange County, a lawsuit from the owner of a neighboring farm, and the possibility of sanctions from the Environmental Protection Agency.
"You cannot go out and change the course of a river without getting the proper permits," said Hal Wiggins, biologist with the Corps of Engineers' Fredericksburg office.
Efforts to reach Rhodes, the owner of Rhodesland Plantation, were unsuccessful. He lives in Dayton in Augusta County. His attorney, R. Lee Stephens of Richmond, declined to discuss the case.
In April 2001, Rhodes wanted to correct a serious erosion problem along a bend in the river adjacent to his property. Rhodes grows corn and other grains on the farm.
Wiggins visited the site and sent Rhodes a letter saying that he would need a permit under the federal Clean Water Act for any dredging or filling in the river.
Last September, high water from Hurricane Isabel further eroded Rhodes' land, enlarging a gravel bar in the river that made the problem worse. Farmers are allowed to remove gravel obstructions without a corps permit, Wiggins said.
But when Rhodes began removing gravel in mid-May, he went far beyond that by blocking the existing river channel, creating a new one farther into the river and improperly placing the fill material in the waterway.
After neighbors complained, the Corps of Engineers revisited the site, and in a May 20 letter ordered him to stop work.
"We are particularly concerned that your placement of approximately 1,666 [cubic] yards of fill material in the Rapidan River could adversely affect the aquatic environment downstream from your property," wrote Bruce F. Williams, chief of the Corps of Engineers' Northern Virginia Regulatory Section. That amount of material would fill about 330 10-wheel dump trucks.
The letter went on to say that Rhodes' dirt-moving may have encroached on a conservation easement on land across the river in Madison County.
In addition, Madison farmer Gregory Fisher whose land sits across from Rhodes' filed for an injunction in Circuit Court to stop the work. A temporary injunction was granted on May 17.
Fisher declined to comment because the case is still pending.
Representatives of the Corps of Engineers, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Orange Planning Office and the EPA met with Rhodes' attorney on the site last Wednesday to come up with a restoration plan.
According to a June 10 letter from the Corps of Engineers to his lawyer, Rhodes must:
Remove unauthorized fill material from the river and to restore the river to its pre-Isabel condition, including the river channel. No part of the gravel bar containing trees and shrubs can be removed, and a haul road built to the site must be removed and the area restored.
Stabilize the riverbank using bioengineering techniques, properly grade it and create a vegetative buffer.
Rhodes must submit a restoration plan by July 10.
Deborah Kendall, director of Orange County's Department of Planning and Zoning, issued a notice of violation Monday on the project.
Rhodes was cited for improperly placing fill material in a flood plain, and for not obtaining the required permits before doing the work.
Kendall said her office is getting a growing number of reports of people filling in wetlands or grading without permits along the Rapidan.
Rhodes' violation "was a little different because it was work in the river," she said.
Peter Stokely of the EPA in Richmond said the agency could impose additional administrative penalties and fines if Rhodes does not comply with the Corps of Engineers' restoration proposal.
"It looked to be a fairly serious violation--moving a river around and other property issues," Stokely said.
"We have an interest in seeing this area restored."
To reach RUSTY DENNEN: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com