Site Photos
Environmental Permitting and Ecological Design
Mr. Toohill assisted the developers of this new private country club in addressing noncompliance of the construction of the course with federal and state environmental statutes, brought the project through the environmental impact and permitting process, and assisted the golf course architect in making revisions to the plans which incorporated ecological restoration and wetland/pond creation. To do this a forensic delineation of the wetland areas on the site was performed by using a protocol Mr. Toohill developed together with the Army Corps of Engineers specifically for this project. The first part of this investigation involved researching and interpreting historic aerial photography of the area to define jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional activities on the site and to develop a chronology of the illegal filling activities. Mr. Toohill prepared an application for an After-the-Fact Individual Permit under the federal Clean Water Act, prepared applications to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for Water Quality Certification and Environmental Policy Act review, prepared ecological restoration designs for the project, and represented the clients in public forums and Hearings. He prepared the MEPA Draft and Final Environmental Impact Reports for the project, responded to the MADEP's Order to Complete under the Water Withdrawal Permitting process, prepared irrigation system demand/supply calculations, and conducted the prolonged pumping test to determine potential effects of the withdrawal on wetlands resources. In Rhode Island Mr. Toohill prepared applications to the State for Water Quality Certification and to the Town of Cumberland for zoning approvals.