19970937 Ver 1_COMPLETE FILE_19920101

WQ - I/Vater Quality Section
)ate: N;Kb ?qo
AEMORANDUM
70-
0 Trish MacPherson (end. sps)
? Kathy Herring (foresr/ORW/I
? Larry Ausley (ecosystems)
? Matt Mathews (toxicology)
? Jay Sauber (intensive survey)
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SEP I U X998 y -;, dLJ?
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La r Mamf c ?QU?a 1998
WETLANDS _
'WATER QUALITY s iO%Fd B chen 11)
?3rent McDom;
Non-DischarL,e Branch (Archdale 9th)
O Kim Colson (Permitting)
Wetlands (WQ Lab)
? John Dorney (Corps, 40l)
? Cyndi Bell (DOT)
Eric Fleek (dredging)
Eric Galamb (other)
Regional Water Qk?''
O Asheville O 7 _
? Fayetteville O R.-
0. Winston - Salem
Planning Branch _{/.. _TU`
O Alan Clark (basil:'-
? Boyd DeVane (c!,
O Beth McGee (marls =_?_
? Steve Zoufaly (z:-
? Ruth Swanek
Point Source Branch (Archdale 9th)-
p Dave Goodrich (NPDES) O __----.-___-'
C3 Bradley Bennett (Stonnwater) O
p Tom Poe _(Pregeatment) (Archdale 7th) ?
ROM: Us&44af4m, Regional / Program Management Coordination Branca,
'RODE T: 11 .vi
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attached is a copy of the above document. Subject to the requirements of the Nloc ?_ c i??a r_? ri. cr«
'olicy Act, you are being asked to review the document for potential significant i.) cn
specially pertinent to your jurisdiction, level of expertise or permit authority. Pl, _ ._: __ r „:1?:a:?~•
ox below and return this form to me along with your written comments, if any, 1>?
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hank you for your assistance. Suggestions for streamlining this process are greatly -n-c: to
ls:lcircmemo - mac version
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fax: (919) 7 l39 94 e-mail:
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can be reached at: 7
hone: [phone], ext. 5E,1
MEMORANDUM
TO: Ed Buckner
FROM: Eric Fle
THROUGH: John Dorne
SUB ECT: FONSI---Whalehead Dredging Project (CURRITUCK, DENR# 939, DWQ# 12204)
Based on a review of the FONSI and the initial permit application, I believe that the following information
still needs to be addressed:
1) The applicant needs to assess the shellfish resource present in the areas proposed for dredging. SAV
has been assessed and to a large extent avoided, however there was no shellfish assessment done.
Before this project progresses this data needs to be gathered. If no shellfish are present (or in non-
significant numbers as defined by NCDMF) then no further redesign of the dredging limits will be
needed. If significant shellfish resources are present within the proposed dredging limits additional
channel alignments may need to be examined.
If there are further questions or comments regarding this project please feel free to call at (919) 7330-1786.
- Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Office of Legislative and Intergovernmgrt ., ffairs
Project Review Form
Project Number: County: Date Received: Date Response Due (firm deadline):
q 9 R.\ C7
This project is being reviewed as indicated below:
Regional Office Regional Office Area In-House Review
? Asheville <Air ? Soil & Water arine Fisheries
? Fayetteville Water )Ktoastal Management
? Mooresville Groundwater ?ildfife Water Resources
? Raleigh Land Quality Engineer ? Environmental Health
ashington ? Recreational Consultant ? Forest Resources ? Solid Waste Mgmt
? Wilmington ? Land Resources ? Radiation Protection
? Winston-Salem Parks & Recreation ? Other
)Vvater Quality
? Groundwater
? Air Quality
Manager Sign-Off/Region: Date: In-House Reviewer/Agency:
Response (check all applicable)
? No objection to project as proposed.
? No Comment
? Insufficient information to complete review
? Other (specify or attach comments)
RETURNTO:
Melba McGee
Environmental Coordinator
Office of Legislative & Intergovernmental Affairs
I

IT1 A
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT
WHALEHEAD DREDGING PROJECT
COUNTY OF CURRITUCK
COROLLA, NORTH CAROLINA
PREPARED FOR:
DIVISION OF COASTAL MANAGEMENT
P.O. BOX 1367 U.S. 17 SOUTH
ELIZABETH CITY, NORTH CAROLINA 27909
PREPARED BY:
WISNI9WSKI & ASSOCIATES, INC.
DR. JOE WISNIEWSKI
Ph.D., ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
6862 MCLEAN PROVINCE CIRCLE
FALLS CHURCH, VA 22043
AND
` MIKE DOXEY
CURRITUCK SOIL & WATER
P -BOX 69
_t. _.
`CURRITUCK, NC 27929
REVISED - MAY 1998
I
LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
The project is located at the historic Whalehead Club in the community of Corolla, NC, on
the Currituck Outer Banks. It is located west of Highway 12, adjacent to and South of the
Currituck Lighthouse and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission property. It borders Currituck
Sound on the west and south sides and a small portion joins Corolla Light subdivision on the
southeast corner.
The County of Currituck acquired this property in 1992 and 1995. It consists of
approximately 30 acres. There are three structures on the National Register of Historic Places:
(1) the Whalehead clubhouse, (2) the boathouse, (3) the foot bridge. Other structures include a
swimming pool, cabana, bulkheaded boat basin, boat docks and 36-72 boat slips, pier and gazebo,
and a 1.4 acre man-made pond.
Currituck County intends to use this entire tract for a public use area (park and recreation
area). The Whalehead Club will be restored and will tiouse a wildlife museum. A visitors center
is planned for the property as well. There will be picnic areas and other types of passive
recreation such as fishing and crabbing. Boat launching and docking for sizable boats will be
available once the old channel is dredged to allow access to Currituck Sound.
PURPOSE OF PROJECT
The purpose of the Whalehead Dredging Project is to improve boating access
from the County owned boat basin and public boat ramp to the navigable waters of Currituck
Sound. At the entrance of the boat basin, the channel passes under a footbridge which has_,an_
opening of 12 feet wide and 10 feet high. Twenty-five (25) foot boats have a beam of
approximately8 feet. The boat basin and boat, docks can easily accommodate 25-30-feaboats. A_
depth of five (5) feet will. be required for ease of navigation to andtfrom this facility.
This channel was last dredged in the early to mid 1950's (see map A dated 12/5/58 and
attached affidavits). This channel has become almost 'non existent over the last 20 years.. There is
only a small trace of an existing channel which allows only small outboards to travel in and out
only on normal to high tides. The original channel was 100 feet wide extending out from the
shoreline. The proposed 40 foot channel will be within this 100 foot area and will be centered
over the existing use channel. In the late 1980's the previous owners spent large sums of money
on the boat basin, bulkheading and boat slips, only for this facility to sit idle because of lack of
access. The boat ramp is the only public boat ramp on Currituck's Outer Banks. Very small
outboards can only be launched from this site due to the shallow depth of the existing channel.
Without this navigable channel, this fine facility including the boat basin and boat ramp becomes
useless as developed.
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DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
The Whalehead Dredging Project will utilize a hydraulic dredge to remove sediment from
the old existing channel. Dredging will start at a natural depth of five (5) feet at N.W.L. This
location is approximately 300 feet west of the existing channel marker beacon (see map B). The
dredging will follow the old channel in an east-northeast direction for approximately 700 feet then
turning northeast following the shoreline and along the old alignment for a distance of 750 feet.
At this point the channel will split, with one section extending to the public boat ramp for a
distance of approximately 70 feet. The final section extending to the mouth of the boat basin at
the footbridge, for a distance of 350 feet. The total length to be dredged is approximately 1,870
feet. Present channel depth is approximately 2.5 feet deep as shown on Map B. The entire length
will be dredged to a depth of five (5) feet at N.W.L. The proposed top width at N.W.L. is 40
feet, with a bottom width of 30 feet. Calculated yardage to be dredged is approximately 4,380
cubic yards. The spoil site will be located on high ground adjacent to the Whalehead Club,
between the man made pond and the Currituck Sound (see Map B). A four (4) foot berm will be
built around the 1.5 acre site to contain the dredge spoil. The capacity of this area will be
approximately 9,680 cubic yards, more than twice the size needed to contain the spoil. This more
than adequate space is used for a safety factor as well as making the dewatering process easier,
which will return the water back into-Currituck Sound. The 4,380 cubic yards of spoil will
occupy approximately 2 feet of depth over the entire 1.5 acres after the dredging is complete.
A Sedimentation and Erosion Control Plan will consist of a sift fence around the entire
perimeter of the berm. After the dredging is complete, the spoil will either be removed from the
site or graded into the existing landscape and planted to grass. This will complete the project. .
ALTERNATIVES
Since this is a major modification of the_original permit application, this project-is
alternative number'one. • The original-Application requested a new ehanntl be dredged-oii a
straight line from the mouth of the boat basin out towards the far channel beacon marker for a
distance of 2,250. The original proposed channel of 55 feet wide and 6 feet deep would have too
much of a negative impact on the aquatic vegetation (SA V.'s) in that area. This proposed
channel of 1,870 linear feet, 40 feet wide and 5 feet deep placed along the old channel alignment
will have a far lesser impact on the SAV.'s than the original proposal.
3
No Action Alternative
The no action alternative would render the existing boat basin and boat ramp almost
useless as it has been since they were developed in 1989. The existing shallow water of 2-2.5 feet
deep limits the size of boats that can utilize this facility. The proposed channel would enhance
this property tremendously, providing the public with boating access to Currituck Sound.
FINDINGS OF NO SIGNIFICANT EWPACT
ENVIItONM ENTAL CONCERNS
A. Land Use - Currituck County intends to use this 30 acre parcel for public
use. The Whalehead Club will be restored and a welcome center/
wildlife museum will be built on the site. Public boat launching and
docking will be available. Other activities will be picnicking,
crabbing, fishing, etc. on this property.
B. Wetlands - There are small areas of wetlands along the shoreline of this
property and around the man made pond. These areas will not
be disturbed and will not be impaired in any way.
C. Prime or Unique Agricultural-Lands -There are none found on this tract.
D. Public Use -This entire tract will be developed'for public use as described -
earlier.
E. Scenic and Recreational Areas-This entire tract will be used for scenic
and recreational activities as described earlier.
F. Historic Areas - The Whalehead Club, boat house and foot bridge are
all on the Register of Historic Places. . .
4
G. Air quality - This project will have no impact on the air quality in the
area.
H. Groundwater quality - This project will have no impact on the ground water
in the area.
L Noise levels - Higher noise levels will only occur during the dredging process
and when the spoil is removed or graded on site. The dredge itself and
earth moving equipment will only increase everyday noise levels very little.
I Water Supplies - No surface or groundwater wells are in the immediate area. No
water supplies will be affected by this project.
K. Fish & Shellfish - Due to the nature of this project the fish habitat will be
disturbed only for a short period of time (2-3 weeks). This
project will take place during the months of October through
February when allowable by the North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission and the Marine Fisheries. This is to
prevent disturbing fish spawning areas during the remainder of the
year when fish spawning takes place. After the project is completed
the fish and shellfish_habitat should quickly return to normal and
may even-be-improved due to-deeper- depth of the propose&channel.
L. Wildlife -There are no threatened or endangered species in the area. Habitat
for the existing wildlife will not be disturbed by this project; therefore,
there will be no negative impacts.
M. Toxic Substances - No toxic substances will be introduced to the area.
N. Eutrophication of Receiving Waters - No eutrophication of the receiving waters
will occur due to this project. The time
5
frame from start to finish will be 14 to 21
days. Turbidity will increase in the
immediate area during the dredging and
dewatering but should subside soon after
the project is completed.
0. Submerged Aquatic Vegetation - In the original permit application the S.A.V.'s became
the basis for this permit and channel modification.
The channel bottom of 1,870 feet a 30 feet (56,100
sq. ft.) is being reduced from 2,000 feet x 40 feet
(80,000 sq. ft.). We are also keeping the channel over
the old channel alignment lessening the impacts on
S.A.V.'s. There is one area of dense Eurasion
Watermilfoil in the channel alignment (see map B)
which covers approximately 4,500 sq. ft. This along
with the other sparsely scattered Eurasion
Watermilfoil totals approximately 5,000 sq. ft. or less
than 10% of the affected area.
CONCLUSION
The environment is always of concern and will be carefully monitored during the
construction of this project. The non-complexity and the short time frame of this project
lends itself to minimal impacts on the?above mentioned items; therefore, this project should
have no significant impact on the environment.
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North Carolina
Currituck County
Affidavit
Travis Morris, appearing before the undersigned notary and being duly sworn, says that:
My father, Chester Morris, represented Ray Adams, the owner of the Whalehead Hunting
Club in the 1940's and 1950's. We spent a lot of time on the property during those years.
The channel was dredged in the early to mid 1950's. It was approximately 100 feet wide
and five to six feet deep. It's purpose was to provide a deeper navigational channel from
the boat basin to the Currituck Sound. This channel was used extensively in the 1950's,
1960's and early 1 's because the main transportation mode to Corolla was by boat.
i 2i y5?
Travis ' , ate
day of ,l , 19
Sworn to and subscribed before rye this { If
Official Seal ---
-: -
Notary Public
My commission expires