County staff: riprap placed incorrectly at Meadville Drive removed; living-shoreline restoration JPA expected

County staff told the Accomack County Wetlands Board that a property owner on Meadville Drive had heavy equipment remove bank vegetation and pushed riprap into wetlands after following incorrect advice from local town staff; staff and VMRC responded and the rock has been removed from the wetland area.

Paul Watson said county staff and VMRC arrived quickly after neighborhood calls and determined the area of wetland impact was relatively minor (staff estimated less than roughly 10–12 square feet of rock in the wetlands). The heavy equipment was taken out of the wetlands and the owners have engaged consultant Ellen Grimes to prepare a living-shoreline restoration plan that will repurpose the removed rock into a revetment with grasses planted behind it.

Watson said the owners have cooperated and are preparing a JPA for the restoration and that staff expect to present that JPA to the board when ready. Board members and staff described the owners as having made good-faith efforts that relied on incorrect local advice, and staff emphasized the living-shoreline approach will both restore the affected area and better protect the bank going forward.

Board members welcomed the restoration plan and asked staff to track the incoming JPA; no enforcement penalty was recorded at the meeting because the material had been removed and the owners were working toward remediation.