Commissioners, residents raise wetlands, water-withdrawal concerns over proposed Amazon site

St. Joseph County commissioners and several public commenters on March 4 discussed environmental and water-resource concerns tied to a proposed Amazon project south of State Road 2.

Commissioner Baxmayer said the county is collecting information about potential wetland impacts and noted federal and state permitting requires mitigation when wetlands are removed. He described typical mitigation ratios cited in the notice: generally 2-to-1 acreage replacement for non-wooded wetlands and 4-to-1 for wooded wetlands, and said the total potentially affected area is "a little over 9 and a half acres" (about 9.7 acres). He added that the county's public notice process is underway and that "no construction is occurring where those wetlands are, right now."

Several members of the public urged the board to oppose disturbance of the wetlands. Cheryl Nicks, Clay Township, compared the acreage to roughly seven football fields plus one-third of a field and urged commissioners to "help push back and stop this devastation." Deborah Durrell, German Township, connected concerns about wetlands loss to regional ecological harms and urged preference for jobs that also protect the environment.

New Carlisle resident Dan Caruso raised concerns at length about groundwater withdrawals and dewatering permits in the area. Caruso said the commissioners previously agreed to a 24,000,000-gallon-per-day withdrawal cap from the aquifer and that, at a prior point, approximately 27,000,000 gallons were being dewatered. He said recent additional dewatering permits have been approved and warned that water availability could lead to rationing by price or restrictions that would disadvantage farmers and residents if industrial users draw large volumes.

Commissioners said they are gathering information and will report further as the public comment period and permitting process continue. No board action was taken March 4.