We are disappointed by the challenges a family in the village of English Center is encountering as it grapples with the remnants of flooding.

The flooding, as detailed in an article in this past weekend’s Sun-Gazette, left rocks and stones uprooted from stream beds on the family’s property. Relocating the rocks has became a confusing, exhausting process of bureaucratic hurdles placed by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Of course, the state needs its Department of Environmental Protection. Pennsylvania has a long history of industries and businesses flouting environmental concerns. Allowing these excesses is unfair to the majority of enterprises who create jobs and offer goods and services while balancing a healthy respect for our natural world.

Thus, it is in the public’s interest to have an agency to investigate pollution and disregard for environmental concerns and to hold violators accountable.

But, whenever we task the government with a mission, we must be mindful and vigilant to prevent its authority from creeping and swelling to areas and tasks outside that narrow purview. The government — especially at federal and state levels — all too frequently is too centralized and regimented to most effectively and innovatively solve problems. Recognition of this underlying principle has guided our nation for nearly 250 years — and allowed us to avoid the mistakes and even tragedies to which centralization subjected many other nations.

And so the scope of the state’s role must be tightly focused on targeting the negligent behavior of bad actors — not creating obstacles and impediments for property owners already dealing with the headaches and heartaches of recovering from a disaster well outside their control.

We hope officials within the department and other public leaders are able to diligently review what has transpired in English Center, offer more clarity and grace to the family and put into place better practices so that, in the future, other property owners will not have the additional frustrations, after painful disasters, of burdensome and inadequately responsive government.