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In her letter, she expressed frustration regarding how the project proponents responded to her concerns:
- "When purchasing my property in 1980, there was never any concern about future property loss or damage where the river/water was concerned. So it was not a "foolish" purchase, or you "didn't do your homework" when concerning the purchase of this property....which is what some officials are saying to me."
- "They speak of bringing back the old niches/ecosystems from 100 plus years ago. What about the current ecosystem(s) in place? I love my land because of the diversity of animals. Mostly, the songbirds. But I also really enjoy the deer, coyotes, turkeys, fox, bunnies, ducks, geese and a myriad of other creatures. In my case, they are talking about flooding over an acre of MY land and the other acre will be impacted by flooding and well. This all will be totally eliminated... How is trading off an existing system for another, beneficial?"
- "If you currently look out over my two acres....in the marsh you see: Maple trees, birch trees, pine trees, shad, honeysuckle, willow and oak.....it looks like a very mature meadow.....NOTHING like a wetland. The rot and decay, if the upper pole dike creek is opened, will be horrendous. I do not believe it will have the outcome they are looking for but will certainly ruin my land, view and lifestyle.
- "No one is accepting responsibility for future damage to the structures or the land, salt water well intrusion, septic system intrusion or any other myriad of potential problems. No one will guarantee me any protection. They have offered possibilities like, "we will relocate your structures" ....um NO, "we can build a berm to hold back the water" um NO how great did that work for New Orleans, "we can fill where necessary" ....um what? you don't want to fill in order to create safe roadways, but fill my property. to a desired height?? Also, Flood insurance....who's paying for that, property tax increase.....who's paying for that? What about the loss of my apple trees, pear trees, peach trees, berry bushes, strawberry patch, aspaagus patch, rhubarb patch...and it goes on and on."
The dire consequences for Ms. Burchall were mitigated when the decision was made to limit the project to Phase 1, in which the upper pole dike region will not be flooded.
See Marty Nieski's story.
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