Yeager Airport will pay almost $37,000 for pollution and ravages during its runway extension construction project, which isn't the first time Yeager has flouted environmental laws. Also last week, the public learned that the state Division of Highways was in trouble for repeatedly polluting water.

Why should private companies take environmental protection laws seriously when people responsible for the running the government do not?

Yeager is looking at $15,000 in fines and $21,750 in repairs to a trail at Coonskin Park - the county's own property. The airport's contractors did not install or properly maintain traps and other structures to keep sediment from running off the site.

This is basic. People who excavate and build are expected, by law and by common courtesy, to contain and manage the disturbance they make, not let it wash off in the rain, to pollute or spoil something nearby.

The state Department of Environmental Protection first noted a visible flow of eroded material in Coonskin Branch in January 2007, and the problem was not fixed until June 2007. More problems were found in October 2007. By February, the public airport had finally complied with the public's law.

Workers excavated part of the Barlow Drive hillside to get rock for a new taxiway and to extend runway safety overrun areas. Before that work began, state forestry inspectors shut down two Yeager contractors who clearcut the hillside. They also failed to control drainage and seed and mulch properly.

Meanwhile, the state Division of Highways has agreed to pay more than $125,000 for repeatedly breaking the law along the new U.S. 35 in Putnam County. These are just the latest in a string of abuses.

Their excuse? Officials, employees and contractors are in such a hurry to finish the job, they simply forget such pesky requirements as sediment traps, diversion ditches and sediment basins. Apparently they were so giddy to reach the finish line they messed up silt fences and forgot to keep stormwater from running into nearby streams.

If contractors are at fault, then the cost of the fines should be passed on to them, not to taxpayers. But if elected officials and agency chiefs push contractors to go faster than they can go responsibly, it's hardly fair to take the penalty out of the contractors' fees.

Airport improvements are great. New and improved roads are more than welcome. But these projects can be done without needless harm to streams, parks or neighbors. These projects could be done more efficiently if contractors planned to follow the laws to begin with, and if their bids were evaluated on that basis.

Governments - whether county, state or other levels - should set an example for everyone else.

Why should private companies take environmental protection laws seriously when people responsible for the running the government do not?

Yeager is looking at $15,000 in fines and $21,750 in repairs to a trail at Coonskin Park - the county's own property. The airport's contractors did not install or properly maintain traps and other structures to keep sediment from running off the site.

This is basic. People who excavate and build are expected, by law and by common courtesy, to contain and manage the disturbance they make, not let it wash off in the rain, to pollute or spoil something nearby.

The state Department of Environmental Protection first noted a visible flow of eroded material in Coonskin Branch in January 2007, and the problem was not fixed until June 2007. More problems were found in October 2007. By February, the public airport had finally complied with the public's law.

Workers excavated part of the Barlow Drive hillside to get rock for a new taxiway and to extend runway safety overrun areas. Before that work began, state forestry inspectors shut down two Yeager contractors who clearcut the hillside. They also failed to control drainage and seed and mulch properly.

Meanwhile, the state Division of Highways has agreed to pay more than $125,000 for repeatedly breaking the law along the new U.S. 35 in Putnam County. These are just the latest in a string of abuses.

Their excuse? Officials, employees and contractors are in such a hurry to finish the job, they simply forget such pesky requirements as sediment traps, diversion ditches and sediment basins. Apparently they were so giddy to reach the finish line they messed up silt fences and forgot to keep stormwater from running into nearby streams.

If contractors are at fault, then the cost of the fines should be passed on to them, not to taxpayers. But if elected officials and agency chiefs push contractors to go faster than they can go responsibly, it's hardly fair to take the penalty out of the contractors' fees.

Airport improvements are great. New and improved roads are more than welcome. But these projects can be done without needless harm to streams, parks or neighbors. These projects could be done more efficiently if contractors planned to follow the laws to begin with, and if their bids were evaluated on that basis.

Governments - whether county, state or other levels - should set an example for everyone else.