Fish farmer had everything but permission
I don't know if the newspaper article in todays St. Paul Pioneer Press (Monday June 12th) will be helpful, but it ran on the front page of the paper. About a commerial project in SE Minnesota's 7 county Limestone Trout Stream Area. ~Parnelli
Fish farmer had everything but permission (Without permits, transformation of hatchery put on hold)
BY DENNIS LIEN
Pioneer Press
On the outsirts of Sping Valley, John Bondhus wants to turn an old hatchery into a world-class fish farm and park, a place where kids and everyday folks can catch trophy-size trout and walleye. In short, a feel-good experience that will put a few extra nickels in the local economy.
But the operation just happens to sit next to a designated trout stream, prompting the state and several conservation and enviromental groups to ask: How about getting the required permits first?
Because Bondhus didn't seek regulatory approval before launching an ambitious $750,000 landscaping and engineering effort at the hatchery, his project is in limbo and is triggering debate about what can, or even should, be done to re-energize it.
In the past two years, the Department of MN Natural Resources has put a hold on the project, the MN Pollution Control Agency has fined him $12,500 for stormwater violations, the Minnesota State Legislature has held committe hearings on permitting for fish farms, and an Administrative Judge has begun considering his appeal of the DNR's action. Critics concerned about the park's impact on the stream, meanwhile, are lining up against him.
Despite the turmoil, the white-haired Monticello businessman who four decades ago founded Bonhus Corp., a successful hand-tool manufacturing company, continues to press ahead.
Just last week, he was busy telling a worker to clear up a problem on one of eleven ponds at the farm and was meeting with a retired teacher who's working on a environmental education program there.
"I want to make this a real nice, family-friendly place," Bondhus said.
How this imbroglio came about is itself a matter of dispute.
To hear Bondhus describe it, he though he could start construction the moment be bought the property and the fish-hatchery license that went with it.
"I didn't know of any permits I needed to get from the state, which was a big mistake," Bundhus conceded.
When trout enthusiasts objected to how the work might affect the stream, he said, the state threw out one roadblock after another, with the DNR never telling him certain things explicitly and continually changing its requests. Now, he said, the DNR is taking an especially firm stand because it fears a lawsuit from the environmental groups more than from him.
But to hear others tell it, Bondhus was inattentive, negligent or irresponsible.
State regulators said his license allowed him to opperate only in the same manner as the old hatchery, which has been closed for more than a decade. They said they told him repeatedly he had to get permits for many of the water and land related alterations he was making.
In a September 3rd 2003, memorandum, for example, a DNR staffer wrote, "I asked (Bondhus) if he had obtained permits for this work."
Without permits, Bondhus is dirverting cold water from one of many springs that feed Spring Valley Creek and is discharging warmed water into the creek, which, as a dedicated trout stream, gets an extra layer of regulatory protection. Trout are cold-water fish that don't do well when stream temperatures rise.
Until the administrative judge issues a recommendation, the DNR doesn't want Bondhus to do much more than maintain the property. an environmental review, meanwhile, still must be done, although it's not clear who will do it and when it will begin.
"The Department of Natural Resources is not opposed to the concept of John raising trout," said Joason Moeckel, the DNR's assistant regional fisheries manager. "We're trying to follow statutory guidelines for how we do that. That is the piece we're trying to work through. Here, the cart got before the horse."
About the only thing that isn't fuzzy is the picturesque 30 acre parcel east of Spring Valley, Minnesota.
Tucked into a low-lying area shaded by tall cottonwood and willow trees, the 1940s-era hatchery sits next to Spring Valley Creek. Two large ponds, two and four acres, are dry, but several smaller ones hold water and fish. Weeds are reclaiming the land.
After Bondhus bought the property in 2003, he went to work right away.
He knocked down old buildings, dredged muck from old ponds, sculpted islands and penisulas, set out limestone blocks and installed a new pipe system. He also hooked up a cold-water spring that feeds the creek, fed it throgh a oxygenating device that reduces nitrogen levels, and rerouted water through a long settling pond before discharging it into the creek.
Community Residents over-whelminly support the project, said Brian hoff, director of the Spring Valley Economic Development Authority. so does the City Council and the Fillmore County board, he added. A petition campaign was begun recently and an estimated 500 people already have signed it, Hoff said.
The project, which would include a commercial fish farm would add a dozen jobs to the community, boost tourism by attracting a projected 50,000 visitors a year, create enviornmental education opportunities and bolster spin-off benefits to area businesses supporting the extra traffic, according to Hoff.
"The posibilities for economic develpment are very positive here," said State Representive Greg Davids (Republican -Preston, MN), who prsided over the recent comittee hearings. Minnesota has almost two dozen such farms.
Davids contended State Agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)and the State Agriculture Department do not have clearly defined guidlines for fish farm permits.
"The permitting process has been a nightmare," Davids said "it seems the rules keep changing for Mr. Bondhus."
But a pair of trout organizations and the St. Paul based Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy argue he ran roughsod over regulations at the expense of a prized public waterway. And they do not trust what he will do in the future.
"He is an intentional violator," said Jeff Broberg, president of the Minnesota Trout Association.
"For Mr. Bondhus to come out and blame the permitting process after the fact is really a disingenuaus position to take," said Devin Biegler, pridident of the Twin Cities chapter of Trout Unlimited.
"This is what is required to do business in public waters, in Minnesota," said Kevin Reuther, a staff attorney for the Environmental Advocacy Center, "This is a valuable resource. if he goes ahead and does work that is detrimental to that resource, it could be lost forever."
For his part, Bondhus said they need not worry. "They know I'm a very environmentally conscious person, but they are trying to make me look like a violator," he said.
Standing in the shade watching dozens of albino trout swin about aimlessly, Bondhus looked like a guy itching to do something, And soon.
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