Do-it-yourself yard projects can be great, unless you're breaking the law — and especially if you're harming the environment.
After Hurricane Irma in 2017 ripped through Merritt Island, Florida, a local property owner was allegedly left with a tennis court-sized hole in his land.
According to an article in Florida Today, the property owner took matters into his own hands, filling in the area, including the Banana River lagoon, with dirt and rocks. While the property owner said this was to fix the hurricane erosion, his dirt and rocks filling the lagoon added about 2,700 square feet to his property, creating a peninsula.
The lagoon is within the Banana River Aquatic Preserve, which is protected by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection under the Aquatic Preserve Program.
While the property owner may have been earnestly trying to mitigate hurricane damage, major ecological projects like this one require proper permits and oversight from officials.
A man in British Columbia, Canada, similarly excavated a protected creek without proper permits and has destroyed salmon production in the creek for years to come, costing him $70,000 in fines. In Connecticut, someone else filled 1.5 acres of a 15-acre protected wetland with soil and wood chips, and on top of having to remove the materials, he owed $26,000 in fines.
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A Florida DEP spokesperson, Sarah Fayed, told Florida Today that the DEP had attempted to reach the Merritt Island land owner to communicate corrections and a $18,500 penalty to no avail. "As the department has not received a response, it is now pursuing alternate enforcement options," Fayed said.
All these acts against protected areas come with major consequences. It's clear: Respecting the Earth and going about these big property projects legally, such as by communicating with local environmental protection agencies, is worth it.
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