Jim Frei - Stormwater Services Group 2 ATTACHMENT

SwSGStormwater Services GroUO. LLC
8916 Oregon Inlet Ct
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
March 31, 2014
Mr. Justin Bashaw
USACE, Wilmington District
69 Darlington Ave
Wilmington NC 28403 -1343
Subj: EA for Demonstration Project showing the Impact of Floating In -Lake Long- Distance Circulators
in B.E. Jordan Lake
Dear Mr. Bashaw:
We appreciate this opportunity to comment on the subject project. In summary, let me state that I am against the
installation of these circulator devices for several reasons including the way the NCDENR sole- sourced these
devices without any public scrutiny, they will create multiple navigation hazards, and they do nothing to remove
the pollutants from the lake. The EA prepared for this project does not adequately address these and other issues,
and therefore I request that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared prior to installing these devices.
My specific comments regarding the Environmental Assessment dated March 2014 follow.
The intent of deploying these devices long -term is to eliminate the need for the Jordan Lake Nutrient
Management Strategy rules which were approved by all of the stakeholders several years ago, but have
been delayed for at least three years by the current state legislators.
The EA does not consider the improvements to Jordan Lake water quality if these devices are not
installed and the Jordan Lake rules are allowed to be implemented as originally proposed. An adequate
EIS must consider this option.
2. These devices do not reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous entering Jordan Lake. Therefore,
these devices will have no affect on the TMDLs established for the lake. The USEPA will most likely
require the implementation of the very BMPs that the current legislators wish to delay indefinitely.
3. These devices do not reduce the amount of metals, suspended solids, oil & grease, and trash that enters
Jordan Lake. The BMPs proposed under the Jordan Lake Nutrient Management Strategy rules would
reduce these other pollutants entering the lake. By delaying the rules while these unproven devices are
studied, the water quality continues to deteriorate.
I am on the board of the non - profit Clean Jordan Lake organization. Our mission is to remove trash and
litter from the Jordan Lake shoreline. Since 2008, over 2900 volunteers have removed nearly 90 tons of
trash and 3400 tires. These devices do nothing to remove this type of pollutant. Proposed rules would, as
a side effect, help control the trash load entering the lake. Can these devices withstand a truck tire
slamming into them during a high flow event on the Haw River?
4. The EA does not address the issue of increased mercury accumulation in the edible biomass. Research by
others suggests that algae have a beneficial property of removing mercury from the water column.
5. The EA admits that these devices will occasionally cause anoxic conditions. The EA does not explain
how these devices will be controlled such that water is always drawn from above the thermocline. The

Comments on EA
Page 2
lake level rises and falls eight or more feet several times a year. Do we want a device installed that we
know will cause more water quality problems?
6. Under Section 3.1, the writer of the EA is being disingenuous in stating that local and municipal
ordinances would help the water quality. Current state law prohibits local bodies from passing
environmental regulations stricter than the state regulations.
7. The EA does not address the potential pollutant issues if the batteries or solar cells on these devices were
to sink into the lake.
8. Each device would impede navigation within a radius of at least 210 feet up to 345 feet from the device.
This is 3 to 9 acres of impeded surface water per device. One of Jordan Lake's primary usage is for
recreation. These devices are being placed in areas popular with boaters and skiers during the day, and
popular with paddlecraft operators at twilight for observing eagles and ospreys.
The number of devices proposed for the Morgan Creek arm has essentially eliminated that portion of the
lake open to boaters.
The devices in the Haw River arm near Roberson Creek will create a dangerous navigation hazard due to
the confined channel.
9. The EA does not adequately address the turbidity caused by the anchoring system swinging across the
lake bottom and stirring up sediment.
10. The EA states "Circulators and accompanying markers would present a small visual impact from shore
or boat, but would not significantly impact aesthetic resources. " This is an opinion. I am an avid boater
on Jordan Lake, and I think these devices, and there will be 36 of them, will be a visual blight upon the
natural scenery of this lake.
11. The EA does not adequately address the impact on the feeding habits of the American Bald Eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalus) or the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). The Bald Eagle is a protected species
known to feed and roost near where these devices will be deployed. I would suggest that the USFWS
review this EA to determine any impacts to birds that feed by diving into the water that these large
devices might have.
12. The writer of the EA is being disingenuous where three different devices are being compared. NCDENR
decided that the SolarBee circulator device made by Medora Corporate will be the selected device before
the EA was finished.
Jordan Lake is a critical resource for over two million people in the central Piedmont area of North Carolina.
More than one million people visited the Jordan Lake Recreational Area last year. It was not built to be a
wastewater treatment lagoon. The pollutants degrading the lake's water quality must be controlled at their source,
not treated where people recreate, draw their drinking water, and where wildlife thrives.
We request that the US Army Corps of Engineers deny all permits for the installation of these devices.
Respectfully,
SAORMWATER,,SERVICES GROUP, LLC
James D. Frei
Senior Project Manager