Wetlands Guidance (Revised)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued revised guidance on wetlands this month. This guidance was in response to the Rapanos Supreme Court Decision and revises and further clarifies the previous guidance.

The new guidance can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/CWA_Jurisdiction_Following_Rapanos120208.pdf

The new guidance clarifies the definition of Navigable Waters to expand to Waters that are navigable-in-fact or could be used for navigation. There is also a further clarification of adjacency and jurisdiction and further discussion of "significant nexus".

All of the clarifications are to the benefit of the agencies.

To see how this affects your project, please contact JCM Environmental. http://www.jcmenv.com/

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. --George Bernard Shaw

Congrats to Benchmark Builders

We're happy and proud to congratulate Benchmark Builders as they join the growing ranks of Delaware homebuilders that are building green! Benchmark was able to get front page coverage on the 12/20/08 News Journal Real Estate section to announce that the Village of Eastridge will be green.

Located in Kent County, this active adult community will provide buyers in the Clayton area with green built homes which are planned to be certified green through the National Association Of Homebuilders Green Building program.

Great Pond Work

Our Land Management Branch grew tremendously in 2008 and made a name for themselves as the "go to" company for challenging jobs where customer service was important. Here are just a few of the comments received this year from satisfied pond clients:

In recognition of our satisfaction with the efforts of you and your staff, we unanimously voted to extend our (pond maintenance) contract with JCM for the next 2 years. Thanks again and please relay our thanks to Kevin, Joe, Wendy and others for their hard work and their cheerfulness in helping our community improve the quality of our ponds.


(The pond looks) much better than before! .....your crew was great and explained a lot to me about the growth of the algae and the treatment. The plants they planted are beginning to bloom and look nice.


I received a call from a community that is considering hiring JCM to maintain their ponds. I told them that JCM was great; they improved our pond and are professional and responsive, always promptly returning calls and doing what they say they will do.

Many thanks to the hard working Land Management crew: Dave, Kevin, Wendy, Tim, Joe and their seasonal helpers.

You can reach Dave at dave@jcmenv.com or (302) 854-9138 X801.

Congratulations Amy on Publication

Amy (Alsfeld) Nazdrowicz has had a research paper accepted for publication in "Biological Conservation" related to the effects of various factors on the success of created wetlands. You can view the article at the link below:

http://jcmenv.com/Biological%20Conservation_Alsfeld%20et%20al%20.pdf

She has also been selected to present her data and findings at the Delaware Estuary Conference in Cape May, New Jersey in January 2009.

Amy works in JCM Environmental's Sciences Branch as a project manager overseeing all wetland creation, enhancement and mitigation projects, including design, construction oversight, planting and monitoring. She can be reached at amy@jcmenv.com and more information is available at www.jcmenv.com.

Regional Wetland Delineation Manual

The Corps of Engineers will now be requiring the use of the new Coastal Plain Wetland Delineation Manual for a trial period of one year. For more information contact JCM Environmental. Also, see more information at the link below:

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/cenap-op/regulatory/spn/spn08_Final_Regional_Supplement.pdf

Sussex Green Development

I am proud to say that JCM Environmental and Silverstock Builders were heavily involved in assisting Sussex County, Delaware in developing a Green Development Policy. This policy was adopted by the Sussex County Council on Tuesday December 16, 2008.

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20081216/DW01/81216022/-1/DW

This voluntary program encourages Green Development and Building and gives incentives to builders and developers for building green and developing green. This is a win-win policy that will benefit Sussex County for many years to come.

Board of Directors

Howard Fortunato and Jim McCulley were sworn in today to the Homebuilders Association of Delaware (HBADE) Board of Directors at the Inaugural Luncheon at the Sheraton in Dover.

This marks Jim's sixth year of serving on the Board at various times in his career and Howard's first year of service as a Board Member.

Howard did previously serve as the Executive Officer for this group and is currently serving as the President of the Green Building Council of the HBADE.

Congratulations Howard and Jim.

In addition to the swearing in, it was an occasion which reminds us how far the housing industry has come this year. At the beginning of the year we saw Anderson Homes complete the miraculous feat of rebuilding a home in Wilmington for the Extreme Makeover Show.

Howard was instrumental in starting the Home Builder's Green Building Council and Howard continues as President.

We have seen the green building business grow with many firsts by our clients -

SIlverstock Homes, first gold in Delaware and the Nation since NAHB unveiled their NAHB Green program.

Thompson Homes build the first gold certified home in New Castle County.

JS Hovnanian built the first Silver certified homes in Kent County and the first certified models in Delaware and probably the nation.

Here at the end of the year we see Sussex County poised to begin a green initiative while the other counties are not far behind.

Now An Engineering Firm

JCM Environmental is proud to announce that we now have a Certificate to Practice Engineering from the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (DAPE).

With the addition of Doug Seavey, P.E. to our staff, we are now providing Environmental Engineering in our Remediation Branch. Doug also has tremendous wastewater experience and is assisting our clients with single lot and community wastewater design.

We are here to help (Praying Optional)

Driving through Ocean View, Delaware yesterday, I was reminded of a job that another consultant had worked on and told the owner that their land was worthless.  We came in and with more detailed studies proved that the land was not worthless and that only a small portion was actually wetlands.  The remainder of the property had been impacted by work that DelDOT had done and needed an experienced investigator to collect and sort out the data.

Upon the completion of the study, the owners wife said "I have been praying every night for someone to come help us".  We take our job very seriously and we do go the extra mile to look for innovative solutions and we try to thoroughly understand complicated property conditions. 

You don't have to pray for us to help you, just call or e-mail.

I recall praying for several months that the same client would pay their bill, but that is a different story!

Call JCM Environmental and see what we can do for you.

www.jcmenv.com

Committee of 100 Dinner

Howard, Craig, Andrew and I went to the Committee of 100 Annual Holiday Dinner on Wednesday night and saw lots of old friends and met some new ones.

The holidays are a great time to slow down just a bit, reconnect and visit with people who you may have been too busy to see all year. Where did the year go anyway, it has been a tough year for everyone but it seemed to fly by.

This is a great time to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and prepare for a year that we all know will be better than this year. Count your blessings and reconnect with someone you may have forgotten about.

Better Business Bureau

Written by Jacki McCulley, Business Manager at JCM Environmental:

We have been accepted as members of the Better Business Bureau! I met with a representative of the organization several weeks ago and discovered that being a member is a process of verifying our standing in the business community and having no complaints against us, in addition to other criteria.

Interestingly, the BBB was founded many years ago to protect consumers against “snake oil salesmen” who would come into town and sell folks potions claiming to do wonderful things, then they would take the money and run. Today’s BBB serves the client in many ways, including legal services in the event a client does lodge a complaint.

It is to everyone’s credit and high ethical work standards that allows us to be a part of the BBB, and for that, I would like to thank everyone at JCM Environmental and all of our clients.

Thank You Shaina

Shaina Phillips has been a huge part of JCM Environmental over the past four years. She has helped grow the Sciences Branch and has mentored many of the newer employees.

Shaina has decided to go back to school and make a career change. She will be greatly missed by the staff and clients of JCM Environmental. The tribute to her is all of the fine people who she helped train will be picking up where she left off.

We wish Shaina all the luck in the world in her future endeavors and will keep a spot open for her at JCM Environmental in case she decides she wants to come back.

Thanks Shaina!

Science Olympiad Help

Recently, Amy Nazdrowicz and Jodi Kerstetter took our critters on the road, and met with A.G. Waters Middle School’s Science Olympiad team to help prepare them for their spring competition, in particular relating to reptiles and amphibians. Amy and Jodi discussed specifics about various reptile and amphibian species native to Delaware, and the Delmarva Peninsula, and gave the kids the opportunity to touch a snake, salamander, and frog. While some of the students initially balked, most of them ended up touching a Garter Snake, and noticing the difference in skin texture.

Amy and Jodi will be headed back in the spring to help the kids brush up before the big test. Good luck A.G. Waters!