CUMBERLAND - Does the state follow its own regulations when it comes to controlling runoff during timber harvesting?

That's the question developers of a major subdivision planned in the eastern end of Allegany County are bringing before several state departments.

In a letter dated June 27 to Green Ridge State Forest Manager Francis Zumbrun and copied to other state and local entities, Terrapin Run Developer Michael Carnock questions whether Green Ridge follows its own regulations to control runoff into Fifteen Mile Creek. The letter specifically points to a timber harvest operation covering approximately 30 acres, which "is visible from Interstate 68 and Scenic Route 40," Carnock writes.

"... On the property that the taxpayers of Maryland pay you to manage, you are allowing clear-cut logging with no sediment and erosion controls, for which a private landowner could be fined or jailed."

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service spokesman Jack Perdue said Green Ridge does have to submit a sediment and erosion control plan, but the guidelines are different than those for private developments.

"They're not the same because the nature is different," he said. "Developments typically remove a lot of root mass. Root mass is really what keeps the soil in place.

"Forests are different in that, No. 1, the disturbance is much more limited. It may be over 20 acres, but only a fraction of that area will have soil dust, maybe 10 percent."

Terrapin Run Project Manager Craig Leonard sent e-mails providing video footage and photos of what Carnock said is "muddy runoff from the clear-cut, rushing down the hill toward Fifteen Mile Creek with no sediment pond, check dams or silt fence to control water quality."

After briefly reviewing the video footage, Perdue said his initial thoughts are that the video is inconclusive, as there is no immediate indication it is in Green Ridge. He added that if there are problems with a timber-harvesting operation, they are addressed quickly.

"None of these jobs are perfect," he said. "If there is a problem, we address it as soon as we can. If it means shutting down the timber harvest ... or correcting the operation, that's what we do.

"There are a lot of steps to go through before we harvest," Perdue said. "There are very specific best management practices that have been established in the forest department over the years. They are very specific for addressing sediment and water-control issues on forest harvests."

Perdue said that a Thursday check of the timber operation revealed that the state's best management practices for runoff control are working. He said the runoff in the video is not coming off the state's harvest site.

Managers at Green Ridge also went to the area they assume is referenced in the video, but found little to no evidence of sediment runoff.

"It may be coming off from just normal activity. That's going to happen when you have a heavy storm," he said of video images that Carnock said were shot during a thunderstorm Tuesday. "There's a dirt road out there. If you have a country road like that and you have heavy rains, there will be a certain amount of soil that becomes unattached."

The Terrapin Run development proposes to build 4,300 housing units on more than 900 acres of land adjacent to Green Ridge State Forest. According to Carnock, developers are required to prepare a sediment and erosion control plan, which must be reviewed by the Allegany County Department of Public Works, Allegany County Soil Conservation District and the Maryland Department of the Environment before any land disturbance begins.

In Green Ridge, around 20,000 acres of the 46,000-acre forest are available for timber harvesting. Typically, 200 acres are harvested each year on a 100-year cycle, Zumbrun said.

A work plan, which outlines the proposed sites to be harvested, is submitted each year. Perdue said those sites are reviewed by an interdisclipinary team and advisory board prior to submitting the plan for public review. The proposed plan for fiscal 2008 is online at www.dnr.maryland.gov/forests/workplans.

If the plan is approved, Zumbrun must submit a sediment and erosion control plan to MDE. From there the sale is put up for bid and the state enters a contract. If the contract is more than $200,000, it must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works.

Around 50 local citizens have been challenging the Terrapin Run development in the state's courts and recently submitted a petition to have the case heard before the Court of Appeals. The Maryland Department of Planning has asked to be involved in any testimony.

"(The state is) going to court on the grounds that irreplaceable assets are at stake, but then they allow, in fact create, sediment runoff into the very creek they claim they want to protect ... and don't have to follow a single one of their own sediment control regulations," Dave Williams, a public relations representative for Terrapin Run developers, said in an e-mail Thursday. "Shouldn't they be bound by the same rules they hold others to?"

When asked if the state does follow regulations, Zumbrun said the answer is "yes, with an exclamation point."

"You have to do your harvesting according to guidelines," Perdue added. "You have to control slopes; you have to seed and mulch when jobs are done to protect the bare soil. You have to be done within a certain amount of time, and the state has to submit a sediment control plan to MDE. It's not as extensive as developers and nor should it be, but we do do that."

Although Zumbrun had not seen the video or photos as of Thursday morning, he said he has never been cited by MDE for any sediment or runoff infractions.

"We have to get a permit for every timber sale," he added. "From the time the timber sale is proposed it takes about 18 months for approval. We've got to walk the walk."

Tai Shadrick can be reached at tshadrick@times-news.com.