By GREG MARTIN Staff Writer

An expert on how impacts to aquatic resources hurt wildlife habitats testified Friday that a series of dirt mines planned for the Washington Loop Road area will draw down the water table for several miles, and that will drain wetlands and kill native trees.

In fact, Sydney Bacchus, a hydroecologist with four decades of experience evaluating such impacts, said two smaller mines that have already been excavated along Washington Loop have already caused such impacts.

Bacchus testified the excavation of the proposed 108-acre Washington Loop Fill Pit would permanently lower the water table in the area and cause significant adverse impacts. The testimony came during a public hearing at the Charlotte County Administration Center held to consider final approval for the mine Friday.

“(The water table) can never regain its former position at the surface simply because of the volume of the material that has been removed,” Bacchus said.

Bacchus provided her testimony on behalf of the Washington Loop Homeowners Protection Association.

The county's appointed hearing officer, local attorney Kevin Russell, was expected to take the testimony of those opposed to the proposed mines under advisement. Typically, Russell takes about two weeks to rule on the mine applications.

The Washington Loop Fill Pit would be adjacent to three other dirt mines, including two that have already been excavated and one that is currently proposed, all at the southeastern end of the Loop.

At least two other large excavation pits are planned elsewhere on the Loop.

The Washington pit would be excavated by the Triple D Investment Group LLC, whose owners include C.L. Dunn, a resident of the site.

Triple D proposes to excavate 4.5 million yards of dirt over 10 years from pits to be dug 48 feet deep. The pits would be adjacent to Myrtle Creek, a pristine tributary to Shell Creek.

But Bacchus displayed photographs of her inspection of the environment surrounding the Jack Carroll and the Mirror Lakes pits, which were excavated within the past seven years.

One photo showed a cluster of dead pine tress that succumbed to a small brush fire. Bacchus said pine trees are naturally fire resistant and wouldn't have died unless the water table had been lowered.

Triple D's attorney, Michael Haymans, suggested her conclusions were “speculation.”

Haymans called upon his own expert witnesses to testify that water quality and traffic impacts stemming from the mine would be minimal.

Venkat Vattikuti, a traffic engineer for Triple D, testified that the addition of 488 truck trips per day generated by the mine won't affect traffic on the narrow, two-lane Washington Loop.

Even if combined with at least one other proposed mine, the “level of service” on the road will remain “level B,” Vattikuti said.

Clarke Keller, a resident of the area, pointed out that the mines would increase the number of dump trucks on he road by 1,600 percent.

“You're taking one of the most beautiful rural roads in the county and making it more commercial than U.S. 41,” he complained.

Jerry Kuehn, a geohydrologist for Triple D, testified he discovered a layer of phosphate in soil borings of the mine site. That indicates some of the soil to be excavated will be tainted with radiation because uranium, radium and radon are typically found with phosphate, he said.

To deal with that problem, Triple D has adopted a plan to test the soil once its excavations hit a depth of 15 feet. If the radioactivity exceeds 5 picocuries of radium per gram, that soil would be stockpiled for use in road projects.

Soil with radium levels that high shouldn't be used as fill for residential construction projects because of concerns about radon concentrating in houses, he said.

Bacchus, in her testimony, said excavations always result in a lowering of the water table. That's because water in the ground next to the pit rushes in to refill it. But the water level never returns to the same level it was before, she said.

Also, the drawdown can affect wetlands several miles away because of “preferential pathways” that allow water to move underground toward the pit, she said.

And the creation of a lake increases evaporation. During the dry season, the evaporation becomes a “nonmechanical pump” that further drains the water table, she said.

Native trees such as pines and cypress become stressed by the loss of water. They become invaded with fungus and insects and eventually die, she said.

That allows “alien species” such as melaleuca and Brazillian pepper to move in, she said.

Haymans asked Bacchus if she viewed the environment “holistically.”

“You believe that if you pick a flower, you affect a star, don't you?” Haymans asked.

Bacchus replied that the scope of her analysis did not extend to “interstellar impacts.”

You can e-mail Greg Martin at gmartin@sun-herald.com.