The bridge outlet and side swept material that entered the Murphy Creek channel. All that remains of the reinforced concrete box culvert on the top edge is rebar.
The bridge outlet and side swept material that entered the Sawyer Creek channel on Highway 83 during the recent resurfacing project.
SEELEY LAKE – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks fined Montana Department of Transportation for five of the six perennial stream crossings that were impacted by the 17-mile Montana Highway 83 resurfacing project this past summer. Jonathan Ferree, FWP Stream Protection Act Program Manager, said Best Management Practices used were "minimal or non-existent" allowing deconstruction and construction material to be swept into the stream channel. This is the first major violation MDT has received from FWP or any other regulatory agency in the past 10 years in this project area.
Highway 83 was a pavement preservation project to prolong and preserve the existing pavement to extend its service life. There were six creeks of interest defined by FWP as important westslope cutthroat fisheries: Clearwater River, Camp Creek, Findell Creek, Murphy Creek, Benedict Creek and Sawyer Creek. The Clearwater River is also a designated bull trout critical habitat.
On Oct. 10 FWP Regional Biologist notified Ferree that multiple violations of the Montana Stream Protection Act occurred related to MDT's Highway 83 Resurfacing Project north of Seeley Lake. Construction materials that were side-swept from the road surface into the active channels impacted at least five to six perennial stream channels.
"These are primary drainages within the construction zone. In addition, multiple secondary drainages exist that were no doubt similarly impacted," read FWP's violation notice to MDT.
In addition to the Stream Protection Act, the impacts violated the Memo of Understanding between FWP and MDT.
MDT's specifications require that contractors, "Unless permitted or authorized, do not impact any aquatic resources located adjacent to the project. Avoid all equipment traffic, fill material, staging activities and other disturbances to all aquatic resources...Any impacts to these areas and associated consequences, without proper permitting, are the responsibility of the contractor."
Even though MDT said straw wattles, which are standard BMPs, were used at the Clearwater River crossing, Findell Creek was the only creek that was not a violation because there was a couple of feet of buffer so material did not end up in the channel.
MDT was fined $1,000 per creek for the violations. MDT said they will coordinate further with FWP to see if effective corrections are possible for the violations. According to Lori Ryan, MDT Public Information Officer, the contractor LHC, Inc. of Kalispell, Mont. is in the process of paying the violation fines.
Ferree said the underlying problem is the reinforced concrete box culverts are too short and undersized for the roadbed. This creates a problem for maintenance, water quality and fish passage upstream.
FWP has been requesting MDT to replace the boxes for the past 15 years but MDT has not taken any actions to remediate the problem.
"The culverts are sadly derelict," said Ferree highlighting that the crumbling of the concrete boxes are adversely impacting the fisheries through increased turbidity and deposition of fine sediment. "This headwater area is critical habitat for westslope cutthroat trout as well as a robust wild trout fishery. Fine sediment has the propensity to cover and suffocate incubating eggs deposited in the channel substrate by aquatic species. In this regard winter sanding is also a concern."
Ferree said, while the violation fines are not much, they were "just enough" to get MDT's attention.
"We needed a little impetus to get the box culvert replacement going," said Ferree. "Now we have gotten their attention and now there is a plan in the works [to replace the culverts]."
Ryan wrote the culvert replacement was not part of the pavement preservation project. A separate project to address the stream crossings is better suited as a stand-alone project. MDT met with FWP to evaluate the stream crossing structures and determine what scope is appropriate for stream crossing improvements on Highway 83.
Ferree said this is the first major violation MDT has had since he has been the Stream Protection Act Program Manager for the past two years.
"[MDT] aren't bad guys, they just need to replace those reinforced box culverts," said Ferree. "There is a lot of opportunity for them to update those stream crossings. That is what we are hoping will happen."
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