DEQ to Mason/Lone Pine ComplaintP.O. Box 200901 Helena, MT 59620-0901
August 3, 2007
Scott Mason
300 Learn Lane
Kalispell, MT 59901
Brian Schweitzer, Governor
• (406) 444-2544 www.deq.mt.gov
RE: Complaint Regarding the Lone Pine Development Located in Kalispell, Flathead County,
Montana. [CVID #11264]
Dear Mr. Mason:
The Enforcement Division (ENFD) of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (Department)
has completed its investigation into your complaint regarding the Lone Pine Development Subdivision
(Lone Pine) located in Kalispell, MT. The complaint alleged that Lone Pine was altering the area's
natural flow patterns by filling and blocking natural drainages. You also stated that sheet flooding was
occurring on, your property as a result of those alterations and that Lone Pine Development was in
violation of the state law by completing an inadequate stormwater drainage plan.
After a review of your June 1, 2007 complaint and the additional information sent June 29, 2007, it
appears that the sheet flooding on your property is caused by the lack of a culvert in Learn Lane, not the
Lone Pine Subdivision. Learn Lane bisects a drainage without a culvert to allow the water to flow.
Learn Lane was originally constructed without a culvert and was in place before Lone Pine was
approved.
As for your claim that Lone Pine's stormwater drainage plan is inadequate because it does not address
the natural flow patterns in the area adjacent to Learn Lane and the development site, the Department
reviewed the submitted plan and determined it is designed in accordance with DEQ-8. You had specific
concerns with the requirements outlined in DEQ-8 Section 1.1.2.0 which states "For flows that originate
outside the subdivision, provisions for passing these flows through the subdivision without flooding
home sites or drain field sites (at a recurrence interval of 100 years), and without overtopping of
roadways (at a recurrence level of 10 years)". It was concluded that because a culvert was not present in
Learn Lane during the planning phase of Lone Pine, the flow originating from the drainage outside of
the subdivision causing the flooding on your property, was not required to be accounted for. In other
words, the drainage did not flow through the Lone Pine site and therefore was not within the scope of
the stormwater plan. The installation of a culvert in Learn Lane at this point in the process will require
Lone Pine to recalculate flows and revise their current stormwater plan.
Enforcement Division • Permitting & Compliance Division • Planning, Prevention & Assistance Division • Remediation Division
Scott Mason
August 3, 2007
Page 2
I recommend that you continue to work with the City of Kalispell, as well as the Flathead County Road
Department, to address the flooding events that occur as a result of Learn Lane. If you have any
questions, please contact me at the telephone number listed below.
Sincerely,
Nicole Olmstead
Environmental Enforcement Specialist
Enforcement Division
(406) 444-3937; Fax (406) 444-1923
E-Mail: nohnstead.@)yalioo.com
cc: Joseph W. Russell, Flathead County Sanitarian, 1035 1s`Ave. West, Kalispell, MT 59901
Ljirmes H. Patrick, City of Kalispell, P.O. Box 1997, Kalispell, MT 59901
Guy Foy, Superintendent, Flathead County Raod and Bridge Department, 1249 Willow Glen Dr.,
Kalispell, MT 59901
Steve Kilbreath, Department of Environmental Quality, Subdivision Review Section