We were shocked to learn that Fire District No. 18 officials cleared land next to Lake Whatcom, causing serious environmental damage to the lake, without seeking a permit or approval of regulators.

Fire district officials cleared land at the south end of Lake Whatcom, pushed dirt into the lake to create more “land” and floated a small dock on the water. They claim they needed more land in order to land helicopters to transport people quickly in the event of accidents or emergency. The district has airlifted patients out of the area twice in the last five years.

County officials say the work caused significant environmental damage. State officials say that if the district had asked for permits for such a project, they would have been denied.

District officials say they didn’t realize what they were doing was wrong or that it would damage the lake.

That is simply not believable. It is unfathomable that district officials didn’t know about Lake Whatcom’s water quality issues or that what they wanted to do required some sort of OK from regulators. They must have known about the rules and decided to ignore them. Either way, punishment is necessary.

Damaging the lake through building is unfortunate when it’s done by an unknowing homeowner. But it’s appalling when done by hired leaders of elected representative governments. We urge the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to pursue whatever criminal charges they can to those individuals responsible for the effort. Lake Whatcom is home to several important fish species, including kokanee that are bred in a state hatchery at the south end of the lake.

Unfortunately, the actions of a few fire district leaders are likely to cost district taxpayers a load of money, as well. The district faces a $2,900 penalty from Whatcom County and might face fines of up to $10,000 a day for violation of the state Water Pollution Control Act from the state Department of Ecology.

And the costs will continue to rise. The district has spent more than $1,800 on repairs so far and signed a contract to pay $2,250 to a consulting firm for an environmental restoration plan.

Taxpayers in the district ought to immediately seek to replace the board members and chief responsible for this offense.