On a recent day, Marvin resident Lauren Thomas walked down the wooded Tullamore Trail in the village of Marvin, south of Charlotte in Union County and right across the border from Indian Land. The trail runs alongside a tributary of Six Mile Creek, which feeds the Catawba River.
“It's on conservation land that was put in conservation because there's a federally endangered species called the Carolina Heelsplitter,” Thomas said.
The Carolina Heelsplitter is a species of freshwater mussel. They’re about the size of the palm of your hand. Only six known populations remain, according to state regulators. One of those populations inhabits the Catawba River Basin.
“What we're walking on right now is crushed gravel that's compacted with railroad ties,” Thomas said.
Railroad ties — the square logs that run perpendicular to railroad tracks — are treated with a wood preservative called creosote. The preservative contains known carcinogens and may leach chemicals into sediment and water.
Thomas said the trails are also contributing to flooding in an already flood-prone area.
“You're creating an area where water has a difficult time flowing, and so it's an obstruction to stormwater conveying,” Thomas said.
Brandon Jones, the Catawba Riverkeeper, toured the site with Thomas. He described the trails as the product of “carelessness and apathy” on behalf of the builders.
“Though permitting processes can be a headache, they exist for good reason,” Jones wrote in a statement to WFAE.
In an emailed statement, Christina Amos, the village manager, wrote that the village only discovered it needed permits from its floodplain administrator after the fact.
The village disagreed that any state permits were needed for trail work done to date. Amos wrote that local, state and federal agencies had not reported violations on pre-existing trails.
However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened an investigation after an October inspection revealed possible “unauthorized work along the Tullamore Trail.” Federal regulators stated in a letter to the Village of Marvin that it had not received a permit for “any of the previously constructed trail systems.”
The permit review would also assess impacts to endangered species, like the Caroline Heelsplitter. Marvin hired a soil scientist to prepare the survey of plants, soil and hydrology in the area that federal regulators requested.
This is not the first trail dispute in Marvin. Last January, Thomas and her neighbor objected to a trail connecting their subdivision to another neighborhood. Tori Comisky was among them.
“We are not comfortable at all with a public trail connected to a wider trail system, inviting people from all over Union and Mecklenburg counties to be walking by my home,” Comisky said.
Last March, the village held two referendums to raise taxes to fund transportation infrastructure, including greenways, and parks and recreational facilities. Residents rejected both proposals, 4 to1. Tori Comisky and her husband Chris sued the Village of Marvin for attempting to build a trail behind their property.
Federal regulators are still investigating the trails. The ongoing federal funding freeze will not impact the review, according to a spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The village of Marvin has hired an engineer for the Marvin Creek Connector Trail and is in the process of contracting an engineer for the Tullamore Trail.
