20181699 Ver 1_USACE Comments_20200226

Strickland, Bev
From: Hair, Sarah E CIV CESAW CESAD (US) <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 3:28 PM
To: Bodnar, Gregg; Dunn, Maria T.; Mairs, Robb L; Deaton, Anne
Cc: Twyla Cheatwood; pace wilbur
Subject: [External] RE: Shinn Creek Estates
Attachments: CL 31_Shinn Creek Estates_dredge_LETTERHEAD.pdf, ShinnCreekEstatesHOA_
2014-01431 _EFH_FI NAL.pdf
External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
[e-mail]
Attached are the Corps' comments/recommendations for the proposed project. Unchanged from the original. The first 3
conditions which prohibit breakwater construction and new dredging of the "S-Curve" or "S-Channel", and restricts
maintenance dredging to the period of October 1 to March 31, are a result of EFH consultation pursuant to the
Magnuson -Stevens Act with the National Marine Fisheries Habitat Conservation Division (also attached for reference).
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Liz Hair
Regulatory Project Manager
Wilmington District
US Army Corps of Engineers
69 Darlington Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28403
Sarah.e.hair(@usace.armv.mil
910-251-4049
From: Bodnar, Gregg <[e-mail]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 2:34 PM
To: Dunn, Maria T. <[e-mail]>; Mairs, Robb L <[e-mail]>; Deaton, Anne
<[e-mail]>; Hair, Sarah E CIV CESAW CESAD (US) <[e-mail]>
Subject: [Non-DoD Source] Shinn Creek Estates
Hey all,
With the passing of the variance for Shinn Creek I wanted to touch base with everyone concerning any thoughts on a
moratorium since there were only objections and not comments if the project were to be authorized. Also Robb let me
know if you have authorized yet. We will be finishing things up asap.
Thanks
G regg

Gran Bodnar
EQAsostant Major Permks Coordinator
Division of Coastal mana"Ment
0hpartment Of Envithron"tal Quality
ow OPPMO
2S2 "S 2m ext 215 (Office)
Ermoff carrespondenct to andfiom this addrm is subfiect to the
North Comfirm; Pubfic Records Low anct may be d(scimsevi to third parties.

T OF
STA7E5 OF
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
69 DARLINGTON AVENUE
WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 28403-1343
April 3, 2019
Regulatory Division
Action ID No. SAW-2014-01431
Mr. Doug Huggett
Division of Coastal Management
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
400 Commerce Avenue
Morehead City, North Carolina 28557-3421
Dear Mr. Huggett:
Reference the application of Shinn Creek Estates, HOA, Mr. Ben Stephenson, to conduct
dredging maintenance dredging within waters of an existing access channel and basin, new
dredging to create a new access channel, and installation of two breakwaters in waters
adjacent to the AIWW, associated with an existing private docking facility located at 6432
Shinn Creek Lane, in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Wilmington, New
Hanover County, North Carolina.
Specifically, the proposed project consists of excavating an existing/new access channel
and basin adjacent to the AIWW. An initial dredge event is proposed to remove approximately
600 cy of material from an area measuring 8' wide by 1,085' long located within the existing
channel between the AIWW and the boat basin (see Sheet 4 of 6). Approximately 460' of this
channel (identified in the application as the'S-Curve' or'S-Channel') is considered new
dredging. The proposed final water depth for the channel would be -3' at MLW in connection
to a waterbody that has a water depth of -3' at MLW. Existing water depths within the project
area range from 0' to-1.5' at MLW. The applicant also proposes to install 4 new wooden
breakwaters adjacent to the newly excavated channel (identified in the application as the 'S-
Curve' or'S-Channel'). The proposed breakwaters would be 60' long, one would be 70' long,
and the final would be 40' long.

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The Federal agencies have completed review of the proposal as presented by the
application and your field investigation report. We recommend that the following conditions be
included in the modification to the State authorization:
1. Breakwater construction is not authorized.
2. New dredging within the area identified as the "S-Curve" or "S-Channel" is not
authorized.
3. In order to protect juvenile shrimp and finfish, no excavation or filling activities will be
permitted between the dates of April 1 and September 30 of any year without the prior
approval of the Corps.
4. In order to further protect the endangered West Indian Manatee, Trichechus manatus,
the applicant must implement the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Manatee Guidelines, and
strictly adhere to all requirements therein. The guidelines can be found at
http://www.fws.gov/nc-es/mammal/manatee guidelines.pdf.
5. The permittee must install and maintain, at his expense, any signal lights and signals
prescribed by the U.S. Coast Guard, through regulations or otherwise, on authorized facilities.
For further information, the permittee should contact the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety
Office at [phone].
6. All work authorized by this permit must be performed in strict compliance with the
submitted plans, which are a part of this permit. Any modification to these plans must be
approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) prior to implementation.
7.Except as specified in the plans attached to this permit, no excavation, fill or
mechanized land -clearing activities shall take place at any time in the construction or
maintenance of this project, in such a manner as to impair normal flows and circulation
patterns within waters or wetlands or to reduce the reach of waters or wetlands.
8. Except as authorized by this permit or any USACE approved modification to this
permit, no excavation, fill or mechanized land -clearing activities shall take place at any time in
the construction or maintenance of this project, within waters or wetlands. This permit does
not authorize temporary placement or double handling of excavated or fill material within
waters or wetlands outside the permitted area. This prohibition applies to all borrow and fill
activities connected with this project.

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9. All mechanized equipment will be regularly inspected and maintained to prevent
contamination of waters and wetlands from fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, or other toxic
materials. In the event of a spill of petroleum products or any other hazardous waste, the
permittee shall immediately report it to the N.C. Division of Water Resources at (919) 733-
5083, Ext. 526 or [phone] and provisions of the North Carolina Oil Pollution and
Hazardous Substances Control Act will be followed.
10. Unless otherwise authorized by this permit, all fill material placed in waters or
wetlands shall be generated from an upland source and will be clean and free of any
pollutants except in trace quantities. Metal products, organic materials (including debris from
land clearing activities), or unsightly debris will not be used.
11. If the permittee discovers any previously unknown historic or archeological remains
while accomplishing the authorized work, he will immediately notify the Wilmington District
Engineer who will initiate the required coordination procedures.
12. The permittee shall require its contractors and/or agents to comply with the terms
and conditions of this permit in the construction and maintenance of this project, and shall
provide each of its contractors and/or agents associated with the construction or maintenance
of this project with a copy of this permit. A copy of this permit, including all conditions, shall
be available at the project site during construction and maintenance of this project.
13. The permittee shall employ all sedimentation and erosion control measures
necessary to prevent an increase in sedimentation or turbidity within waters and wetlands
outside the permit area. This shall include, but is not limited to, the immediate installation of
silt fencing or similar appropriate devices around all areas subject to soil disturbance or the
movement of earthen fill, and the immediate stabilization of all disturbed areas. Additionally,
the project must remain in full compliance with all aspects of the Sedimentation Pollution
Control Act of 1973 (North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 113A Article 4).
14. The activity will be conducted in such a manner as to prevent a significant increase
in turbidity outside the area of construction or construction -related discharge. Increases such
that the turbidity in the waterbody is 50 NTU's or less in all rivers not designated as trout
waters by the North Carolina Division of Environmental Management (NCDEM), 25 NTU's or
less in all saltwater classes and in all lakes and reservoirs, and 10 NTU's or less in trout
waters, are not considered significant.
15. The permittee, upon receipt of a notice of revocation of this permit or upon its
expiration before completion of the work will, without expense to the United States and in
such time and manner as the Secretary of the Army or his authorized representative may
direct, restore the water or wetland to its pre -project condition.

M
16. Violations of these conditions or violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act or
Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act must be reported in writing to the Wilmington District
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers within 24 hours of the permittee's discovery of the violation.
Questions or comments may be addressed to Ms. Liz Hair Wilmington Field Office,
Regulatory Division, telephone [phone] or email at [e-mail]. mi1.
Sincerely,
Liz Hair, Project Manager
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office
Electronic copy furnished:
Mr. Todd Allen Bowers
US EPA Region 4 Life Scientist -Water Protection Division
Ms. Courtney Spears/Ms. Debbie Wilson
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality- Division of Coastal Management
Ms. Karen Higgins/Mr. Chad Coburn
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality -Division of Water Resources
Mr. Pete Benjamin/Mr. John Ellis
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Dr. Pace Wilber/Mr. Fritz Rohde/Ms. Twyla Cheatwood
National Marine Fisheries Service -Habitat Conservation Division

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE
Southeast Regional Office
26313th Avenue South
St. Petersburg. Florida 33701-5505
http:ftsero. n rnfs. noaa.gov
March 11, 2019
(Sent via Electronic Mail)
Colonel Robert J. Clark, Commander
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District
69 Darlington Avenue
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403-1398
Attention: Sarah Hair
Dear Colonel Clark:
F/SER47:TC/pw
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) reviewed the public notice for Action ID: SAW-
2014-01431 dated February 12, 2019. Ben Stephenson, Shinn Creek Estates HOA, proposes maintenance
dredging within waters of an existing access channel and basin, new dredging to create a new access
channel, and installation of two breakwaters. The proposed work would be adjacent to the Atlantic
Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) and associated with an existing private docking facility in New Hanover
County. The Wilmington District's initial determination is the proposed project may affect adversely
0.21 acres of essential fish habitat (EFH) or associated fisheries managed by the South Atlantic Fishery
Management Council (SAFMC), the Mid -Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), or NMFS.
As the nation's federal trustee for the conservation and management of marine, estuarine, and diadromous
fishery resources, the NMFS provides the following comments and recommendations pursuant to the
authorities of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and the Magnuson -Stevens Fishery Conservation
and Management Act (Magnuson -Stevens Act).
The applicant proposes to excavate an existing/new access channel and basin adjacent to the AIWW. The
initial dredging event would remove approximately 600 cubic yards of material from an area measuring
eight feet by 1,085 feet within the existing channel between the AIWW and the boat basin.
Approximately 460 feet of this channel, identified in the application as the "S-Curve" or "S-Channel,"
would be new dredging. The proposed final water depth for the channel would be -3 feet MLW. Existing
water depths within the area of the proposed dredging range from 0.0 to -1.5 feet MLW. Dredging would
be done using the bucket -to -barge method and deposited at an upland disposal site approximately 0.3
miles south of the project site and adjacent to USACE Disposal Site No. DA-251, which is at the
confluence of the AIWW and Shinn Creek. The applicant also proposes to install four new wooden
breakwaters adjacent to the newly excavated channel in the S-Curve. The lengths of the breakwaters
range from 40 feet to 70 feet and would extend approximately one foot above MHW. The applicant notes
the boat basin and access channel were excavated prior to 1970 and the State of North Carolina issued a
permit in 1982 for maintenance dredging of the boat basin and access channel; this permit did not include
the S-Curve.
The dredging and installing of breakwaters would disturb approximately 0.21 acres of shallow bottom
habitat adjacent to oyster aggregations and bars. The SAFMC identifies shallow sub -tidal bottom in
estuarine waters as EFH for penaeid shrimp and estuarine -dependent species of the snapper -grouper
complex. The MAFMC designates tidal creeks and the estuarine waters as EFH for summer flounder and

bluefish. The State of North Carolina designates the project site a Primary Nursery Area (PNA). The
SAFMC designates PNAs and oysters as HAPCs for estuarine species, such as gray snapper and gag
grouper, in the snapper -grouper complex. HAPCs are subsets of EFH that are rare, particularly
susceptible to human -induced degradation, especially important ecologically, or located in an
environmentally stressed area. Other species of commercial or recreational importance found in the
project area include red drum, Atlantic croaker, spot, Atlantic menhaden, bay anchovy, striped mullet,
weakfish, Eastern oyster, and blue crab. A number of these species serve as prey for fish that are
managed by SAFMC (e.g., king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and cobia) or for highly migratory fish
managed by NMFS (e.g., billfishes and sharks). The SAFMC provides additional information on EFH
and federally managed species in Volume IV of the Fishery Ecosystem Plan of the South Atlantic Region'
and the Users Guide to Essential Fish Habitat Designations by the South Atlantic Fishery Management
Counci12. Detailed information about the EFH requirements of species managed by MAFMC are
included in separate amendments to individual fishery management plans and in technical reports
prepared by the NMFS Northeast Fishery Science Center'.
After issuance of the public notice, the applicant met with resources agencies to discuss environmental
concerns. Discussions focused on diminished productivity caused by the dredging, especially the new
dredging within the PNA and by installing the breakwaters; sedimentation of oyster habitat caused by the
dredging; and adverse effects to salt marsh habitat that may result from the breakwaters affecting water
flow and sediment transport. While the applicant indicated during the meeting a willingness to remove
the breakwaters from plans, the NMFS has not received notification from the Wilmington District that
this removal has occurred.
EFH Conservation Recommendations
Section 305(b)(4)(A) of the Magnuson -Stevens Act requires the NMFS to provide EFH Conservation
Recommendations for any federal action or permit which may result in adverse impacts to EFH.
Therefore, the NMFS recommends the following to ensure the conservation of EFH and associated
fishery resources:
The permit should not authorize the proposed breakwaters.
The permit should not authorize the proposed new dredging.
The permit should restrict maintenance dredging to the period of October 1 to March 31 to protect
juvenile shrimp and finfish using the shallow bottom habitat.
Section 305(b)(4)(B) of the Magnuson -Stevens Act and its implementing regulations at 50 CFR
600.920(k), requires the Wilmington District to provide a written response to the EFH recommendations
within 30 days of receipt. If it is not possible to provide a substantive response within 30 days, in
accordance with the "findings" between the NMFS and the Wilmington District, an interim response
should be provided. A detail response must then be provided prior to final approval of the action. The
detailed response must include a description of measures proposed by the Wilmington District to avoid,
mitigate, or offset the adverse impacts of the activity. If the Wilmington District's response is
inconsistent with the EFH conservation recommendations, the District must provide a substantive
discussion justifying the reasons for not following the recommendations. The detailed response should be
received by the NMFS at least ten days prior to final approval of the action.
' Available at http://http://safmc.net/fishery-ecosystem-plan-ii-introduction/
2 Available at http://http:Hsafinc.net/download/SAFMCEFHUsersGuideFinalRevAugl7.pdf
' Available at https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nefsc/habitat/efh/
2

Thank you for the opportunity to provide these comments. Related questions or comments should be
directed to the attention of Ms. Twyla Cheatwood at our Beaufort Field Office, 101 Pivers Island Road,
Beaufort, North Carolina 28516-9722, or at [phone]
/ for
cc: COE, [e-mail]
USFWS, [e-mail]
NCDCM, [e-mail]
NCDMF, Shane. [e-mail]
EPA, [e-mail]
SAFMC, [e-mail]
F/SER4, [e-mail]
F/SER47, [e-mail]
Sincerely,
PVA /
au
Virginia M. Fay
Assistant Regional Administrator
Habitat Conservation Division