Company Profile
Stoney Ridge Environmental LLC (SRE) is a full-service, fully insured environmental firm with experienced staff offering services in wetland delineation, wetland permitting, wetland function-value assessment, shoreland permitting, stream classification & assessment, wetland mitigation strategies and design, wetland mitigation monitoring, wetland restoration, prime wetland studies, wildlife inventories and survey's, vernal pool assessments, endangered and threatened species surveys, invasive species inventories and invasive species control plans, natural resource documentation, GIS data, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans, sediment & erosion control monitoring, soil test pits, soil infiltration tests, site-specific soil mapping, high intensity soil mapping, land use planning and environmental permitting.
SRE staff members have over 22 years of experience in land use development, as well as in natural resource mapping, and the application of the data in many different circumstances and scenarios. Our staff members are knowledgeable and are up to date on all the rule changes and how they may or may not affect a project. We frequently work with engineers, surveyors, landscape architects, private & commercial developers and homeowners. We work together with other professionals as part of a project team or individually depending on the scope of the project and the goals. We routinely present, mediate and negotiate with local, state and federal regulatory agencies on behalf of our clients. Our experience enables us to assist our clients in reaching their unique project goals in a timely and economical manner. We believe in common sense environmental solutions.
Example Projects
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Expansion
(2009-10-current)
This major project impacted over 2 acres of wetland and 1,200 linear feet of perennial stream to create a new track infield to accommodate emergency access, implement Homeland Security Safety Recommendations, facilitate stormwater improvements and an overall safer venue for the general public. This included designing a mitigation package that included elements of conservation/preservation and wetland creation.
Maine Drilling & Blasting
(2014)
This minor project proposed impacts to an on-site vernal pool to accommodate the Federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Bureau safety set-back requirements. On-site mitigation included preservation and creation.
City of Dover Fire Department
(2009-2010)
This minor project filled wetlands for the development of the firehouse and the access way.
Highfield Commons Development
(2007-current)
This on-going major development project includes over 100 single family homes, 200 condominiums, and 150 apartments. SRE has effectively obtained wetland permits, assisted with the Alteration of Terrain Permitting, conducts sediment and erosion control monitoring and has designed the recent mitigation package.
Town of Alton
(2007-current)
SRE has worked extensively with the Alton Highway Department, Town Administrator, the Alton Parks and Recreation Department and the Board of Selectmen on many types of projects ranging from the Town Beach, docks, Alton Bay retaining walls, road redevelopment, Tier 1, 2 and 3 stream crossings, boat ramps and routine culvert crossings. SRE also applied for and obtained NHDES Arm Funding for the town for a unique Floodplain Crossing project.
NH Department of Transportation
(2013-current)
SRE has a contract with the department and the Bureau of the Environment that covers wetland delineation, wetland function & value assessments, wetland permitting, wetland mitigation, wetland mitigation monitoring and overall wetland consulting. Projects are located throughout the State of New Hampshire and in all different types of ecosystems.
Town of Waterville
(2013-2014)
SRE conducted a town wide wetland assessment utilizing the revised NH Method. The resultant study included assessing several potential restoration areas that could possibly quality for ARM-funding in the future.
And so much more...
These are only a few representative projects. SRE has and continues to document natural resources, obtain permits for driveway crossings, road crossings, commercial lot development, ponds, waterfront permits for docks, beaches, retaining walls, boat lifts, boathouses and other shorefront wetland structures. SRE also specializes in shoreland permitting and coastal permitting. SRE works on all types of jobs and sizes, there is no minimum or maximum size.
Professional Background
Cynthia M. Balcius, CSS, CWS & CPESC
Principal of Stoney Ridge Environmental LLC
Cynthia M. Balcius is a Certified Wetland Scientist, Certified Soil Scientist, and Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control. Ms. Balcius has a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant Biology with a minor in Soil Science from the University of New Hampshire. Ms. Balcius also completed two years of graduate studies in Soil Science at UNH where she studied soils derived from hydrothermally altered Conway Granite. She was an appointed member of the Governor's Shoreland Commission and sat on the NH DES Shoreland Rules Committee. In this ever changing regulatory climate Cindy strives to stay current and participates whenever possible in rule committees where real life circumstances and how they affect the permitted public are often a focus for her. The NHDES Stream Rules, Alteration of Terrain Rules, and Mitigation Rules are recent committees where Cindy participated and contributed real world knowledge to the process. Cindy is also very active in her profession currently holding the elected position of Vice-President for the New Hampshire Association of Natural Resource Scientists. She is past President of the Soil Science Society of Northern New England where she was one of the co-authors of the first version of the NH Site Specific Soil Mapping Standards. She also was a member of the soil-based lot size committee that created Soil Based Lot Sizing: Environmental Planning for Onsite Wastewater Treatment in New Hampshire SSSNNE Special Publication No.4 Version I, 2003. Cindy was an elected planning board member for 11 years and a conservation commission member prior to that. Cindy offers over 22 years of comprehensive experience in natural resource documentation and permitting to an ever growing list of returning and new clients.
As Senior Wetland and Soil Scientist of SRE, Ms. Balcius conducts wetland delineations, wetland function and value assessments, soil mapping, sediment and erosion control monitoring, plant surveys and natural resource field data collection. Understanding the resource is integral to developing a permittable project and Cindy is a hands-on scientist and manager. As Senior Project Manager, Cindy works closely with clients and Project Team Members in developing the project and laying the path to full permitting approvals in a timely and cost effective manner. Cindy records her own test pits, performs soil mapping and conducts infiltration tests utilizing an ammoozemeter. Cindy offers extensive expertise in mitigation design, restoration design, construction and monitoring with many successful creation and restoration areas documented. Cindy strives to find solutions to complicated permitting issues and works extensively to reach the clients goals while effectively minimizing impact to the environment.