SierraScape October - November 2007
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by Del Johnson
Executive Committee Chair

If we were to poll residents of eastern Missouri, it seems likely that the majority would say that life here is good. Of course a lot depends on your local neighborhood. We know that some municipalities have problems. But there are also plenty of neighborhoods where the residents are basically content with their quality of life, where people say that their community is a good place for families to live, and that there is a sense of neighborhood pride.

Now, suppose you live in a neighborhood such as I have described, and you begin to hear about events that threaten the well being of your community. Perhaps a commercial development is proposed that threatens the local environment, or a business begins to conduct itself in ways that are harmful to the residents. What can you do about it? Unfortunately, many people say that trying to oppose such threats to their community is hopeless, a waste of time. They either accept the degradation they see taking place in their quality of life--or they move to another neighborhood.

Fortunately there are public spirited citizens among us who take the opposite tack. If there is a threat to their neighborhood, they resolve to resist. They organize, and they take action. The following are stories of two such activists, who saw the well being of their neighborhood threatened, and resolved to do something about it.

Linda Chagolla and the Green Park Road/Grant Trail Neighborhood.

If you drive around in the area where Green Park Road crosses Reavis Barracks Road, you don't see many condos or large new houses. This is a neighborhood of mostly small, one story frame houses, well kept up, with neat front yards. Linda Chagolla, a long time neighborhood resident, tells us that many people have lived here for decades, have raised families, and are now retired. Walking Grant's trail through this neighborhood, one meets bicyclists and walkers, many of them pushing toddlers in strollers.

The troubles in this neighborhood began when a trucking company acquired and paved a large lot adjoining Grant's Trail, and began parking trucks there. Neighbors began complaining of respiratory problems, which appeared to be caused by fumes from truck engines idling at all hours of the day and night. Truck traffic caused street damage, and water from the washing of trucks on the lot caused damage to Grant's Trail. Construction of the parking lot has raised the threat of flooding in adjacent areas.

Linda Chagolla and her husband Tom reacted by convening neighborhood meetings, and organizing a group known as CHASE, Citizen Home Advocates for a Safe Environment.

"We made phone calls, and wrote letters", Linda recalls. "Lots of letters." We contacted County Council members, our state representative James Lemke, the director of the Department of Natural Resources, and the governor of Missouri, to name just a few.

They obtained the endorsement of the East Missouri Group of the Sierra Club, and contacted the media, both newspapers and television.

In May of this year, the owner of the trucking company pleaded guilty in court to environmental violations. He was assessed a fine, and placed on probation for two years, with specific restrictions on how his trucks are to be operated.

Did all this effort by the Chagollas and their neighbors pay off? Linda says that the the traffic situation on Green Park Road improved, temporarily at least, and that sightings of wildlife are increasing, indicating birds and animals are returning to the area. However, enforcement of the ordinances is not still not completely effective, and residents continue to complain of fumes from idling trucks.

What suggestions would the Chagolla's give to others whose neighborhood might be threatened?

"Fight back!", Linda advises. "Speak up. Organize, and contact your elected officials. Be persistent, and don't let them off the hook!"

Lisa Markham and the Belleau Creek Development.

Belleau Creek, which runs through O'Fallon, MO, is "a beautiful meandering creek", and "home to a surprisingly diverse collection of birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals". These are the words of Lisa Markham, an O'Fallon resident, who points out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has described this stream as "an aquatic resource of national importance."

Those who have seen this unusual stream and its riparian corridor can appreciate Lisa's dismay when, early in 2006, the city of O'Fallon accepted a proposal for construction of 240 condominiums, plus eight commercial properties, adjacent to the stream. The developer asked to bulldoze the property and fill in the existing Belleau Creek channel, rerouting water of a 2,200-foot stretch of the creek through an artificial straight channel. To Lisa and others familiar with the area, it appeared that the resulting impact on the stream, and the wildlife in its riparian corridor, would be severe. Further, the damage would not be limited to the immediate area of the development, but could extend much farther down stream as well.

Lisa and her husband James wondered why this development had to occur in this particular location, where the environmental destruction would be so significant. "There are other sites available for development in O'Fallon, where there would not be the adverse environmental impact of building near Belleau Creek", Lisa pointed out. The Markhams and their friends immediately set to work, protesting the development at O'Fallon city council meetings, also contacting Federal and state agencies, newspapers, environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club, and just about everybody else they felt might be sympathetic to saving Belleau Creek.

The response from regulatory agencies was encouraging. On the federal level, both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) were emphatic that damage would result from the development. In the words of the FWS report. "The proposed stream alteration likely will cause severe and irreversible harm to the affected stream and riparian communities". Representatives of Missouri's Department of Conservation (MDC) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR) issued statements agreeing with these conclusions.

The efforts of Lisa Markham and her friends, along with the statements of disapproval issued by state and federal agencies, have thus far delayed implementation of this development, for which approval of the US Army Corps of Engineers would be required. The situation is also clouded by changes in the original proposal which have been made by the developer.

If you wish to help Lisa and her friends in her ongoing struggle to preserve Belleau Creek, you may contact Mr. Charles Frerker of the US Army Corps at (314) 331-8583, and ask him to protect this unique stream. His email address is Charles.F.Frerker@mvs02.usace.army.mil. You may also contact Mayor Donna Morrow of O'Fallon, asking her to help preserve this important area. She can be reached by phone, (636) 379-5500, or by email, at dmorrow@ofallon.mo.us.