Wetland Delineations and Permitting of a Yard-Waste Composting Expansion Site

Wetland Delineations, Threatened & Endangered Species Survey, and Permitting

Client: Confidential Yard-Waste Composting Operation | Location: Northwestern Indiana

Prior to a potential expansion of a yard waste composting operation, Weaver Consultants Group (WCG) completed a background review of available sources in order to identify the potential presence of wetland areas on the property.  Multiple on-site wetland delineations of an approximately 30-acre expansion site were needed to evaluate for the presence and location of wetlands on the property and to assist the client with an evaluation of alternatives to impacting identified wetland areas.  WCG assisted the client with identifying options to avoid and minimize impacts to the identified wetland areas as a result of the proposed expansion.  In addition, these activities included a wetland delineation following the Army Corps of Engineers’ Regional Supplement, which identified the presence of low-quality wetlands and a high-quality, globally-rare dune-swale wetland community.  

Due to the high-quality nature of the identified dune-swale wetland community, an evaluation of the presence of state- and federal-listed threatened, endangered, and rare species was completed, which were identified to be present on and in the vicinity of the property. WCG assisted the property owner with wetland mitigation negotiations and permitting with the Chicago District of the Army Corps of Engineers, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which included the preservation of the dune-swale habitat as compensatory mitigation for impacts to low-quality wetlands.