Wetlands

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, PA. - Someday, people will walk with dry feet through Happel's Meadow to see the flora and fauna that live in the wetland. Maybe, they'll even spot a bobcat. Washington Township officials, at a real estate closing Thursday, paid $160,000 for a run-down house and five acres of dry land abutting Happel's Meadow. Pa. 16 dissects the wetland. About 47 acres lie on the north side and 23 on the south. The property closed on Thursday gives access to the south side, said Jerry Zeigler, township code enforcement officer.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Washington Township residents and a team proposing 18 single-family houses on Pennersville Road in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., squared off Wednesday over wetlands on the Blue Oak development, which was called "basically an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen" by a township supervisor. Foundations are "going to shift because of freezing and thawing. When we get a decent winter, they're going to have waterfront property," Supervisor Chris Firme said just before his "environmental catastrophe" comment that elicited applause from many of the 30 residents at a workshop meeting.

From staff reports HARRISONVILLE, Pa. - Conservation groups, bird watchers, school groups and motorists will be able to stop and watch the wildlife at a wetlands observation deck recently completed by state workers in Fulton County. Built by the Pennsylvania departments of Transportation and Conservation and Natural Resources, the observation deck overlooks the Haines-Seville Wetlands Restoration Area in Licking Creek Township. The deck is about a mile and a half south of Harrisonville on Pa. 655, according to a Department of Transportation news release.

BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, PA. - Six weeks remain for Washington Township, Pa., to collect donations to further protect its mountaintop wetlands. The township supervisors will be writing a check for $300,000 when they buy six acres of land off Pennersville Road. The land, which once was planned for new houses, abuts the 72-acre Happel's Meadow Wetlands Preserve. The meadow naturally filters water and is the habitat for various plants, birds and animals. "It helps to purify the Chesapeake (Bay)

WAYNESBORO, PA. - Washington Township, Pa., has less than 2 percent of the $150,000 in donations needed to expand Happel's Meadow Wetlands Preserve. And settlement on the land is in 14 days. The township supervisors said they will pull from general funds to write a check for the six acres off Pennersville Road in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. However, they had hoped to raise the money locally to match a state grant when spending a total $300,000. Poor communication could be to blame for the dearth of donations, some residents said Wednesday.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, Pa. - Nearly seven years after Happel's Meadow Wetland was given to Washington Township, the land may be close to achieving what its donors had in mind. The deed to the 72-acre block of land - located along Pa. 16 seven miles east of Waynesboro - states that the property is to remain "as wetlands in its natural state perpetually and not to be sold, developed, subdivided or used for commercial or industrial purposes.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNE HEIGHTS, Pa. - After little public comment, Washington Township Supervisors voted unanimously Monday night to accept the Happel's Meadow Wetland management plan prepared by a seven-member advisory committee. Township Manager Michael Christopher and supervisors will now spend a few weeks drafting an ordinance that will "mirror the enforcement provisions in the management plan," Christopher said. According to the plan, the enforcement of the Happel's Meadow Wetland policy and regulation will be carried out by the Washington Township Police Department and code enforcement officer, or by others designated by the supervisors.

MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER (AP) -- Oil from a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico oozed into Louisiana's ecologically rich wetlands Friday as storms threatened to frustrate desperate protection efforts. The White House put a hold on any new offshore oil projects until the rig disaster that caused the spill is explained. Crews in boats patrolled coastal marshes early Friday looking for areas where the oil has flowed in, the Coast Guard said. The National Weather Service predicted winds, high tides and waves through Sunday that could push oil deep into the inlets, ponds and lakes that line the boot of southeast Louisiana.

HARPERS FERRY, W.VA. charlestown@herald-mail.com Kyle Myles' tennis shoes sank into the mud along the shore of the pond, making a sucking sound as he tried to lift them to move from spot to spot. Myles' job was planting irises in the muddy water, and the 12-year-old Harpers Ferry Middle School student took special care as he carefully packed soil around the base of the delicate water flowers. "This is really good. This is probably one of the best field trips I've ever had," Myles said.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The developer who wants to turn approximately 10 acres of land abutting Happel's Meadow Wetland Preserve into 18 single-family homes said Washington Township intended the land for development. Thomas Mongold, a representative of Kylea & Associates Inc., said in a telephone interview Friday that Washington Township zoned the land for low-density residential development before his company purchased it in 2004. Since the purchase, many members of the community have questioned the ability of the land to be developed.