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Home My WebLink About20111013 Ver 1 - DMF_Marietta_Mine_401_Jan_2012 - 1/19/2012Strickland, Bev From: Mcmillan, Ian Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 3:17 PM To: Strickland, Bev; Dennison, Laurie Subject: FW: DMF- Martin Marietta Mine Comments Attachments: DMF _Marietta_Mine_401_Jan_2012.pdf DWQ 11 -1013 Ian J. McMillan, PWS, GISP NCDENR/Division of Water Quality - Wetlands and Stormwater Branch 1650 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699 -1650 Office: (919) 807 -6364 Fag: (919) 807 -6494 Email: ian.mcmillan.denr(a mmail.com SENT TO MY PHONE Email: ian.memillan(a�,ncdenr.gov E -mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties. From: Hart, Kevin Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2012 3:16 PM To: Mcmillan, Ian Cc: Hardy, Jeanne Subject: DMF- Martin Marietta Mine Comments Ian, We responded to the Corps public notice for the Martin Marietta Mine, but DMF's comments were not sent to DWQ for the 401. Please accept our late comments. If you have any questions let me know. Thanks, Kevin Kevin Hart Marine Biologist Habitat Section North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries 943 Washington Square Mall Washington, NC 27889 252- 948 -3878 Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties unless the content is exempt by statute or other regulation. AZi;L;AW NCDENR North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources Division of Marine Fisheries Beverly Eaves Perdue Dr. Louis B. Daniel III Dee Freeman Governor Director Secretary E-MA I LED TO: Ian McMillan r 1/19/2012 THROUGH: Anne Deaton FROM: Kevin Hart DATE: January 3, 2012 SUBJECT: Martin Marietta. Materials Mine- Vanceboro Site (Beaufort/Craven County) The following comments by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries ( NCDMF) on the subject project are offered pursuant to G.S. 113 -131. The applicant is proposing mining a 649 acre site on a 1,664 acre site on the Beaufort and Craven County border. During the mining process the site will impact 6.69 acres of jurisdictional wetlands and 58,671 linear feet of jurisdictional waters. A total of 173.5 acres of wetlands and 40,388 linear feet of jurisdictional wetlands were avoided on the project site. The pit has been designed to minimize wetland impacts while not segmenting the mining site. The applicant has proposed payment to the EEP for the wetland impacts. In addition to the wetland impacts the applicant proposes discharging 12 million gallons per day (MGD) into Unnamed Tributaries of Blounts Creek. Six MGD will go into one branch, and the additional six MGD will go into another branch as the mine grows. The NCDMF has no comments on the direct wetland impacts proposed at this time. However NCDMF may have concerns if additional wetland impacts are incurred in future phases. The NCDMF also has concerns regarding the discharge and the significant adverse impacts on the Blounts Bay aquatic community. The discharges will be sent to the headwater swamps of the Blounts Creek system, a brackish creek system supporting dense submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds. The system is used by anadromous fish (i.e. striped bass and historically river herring) for spawning migrations and nursery areas, and resident species (catfish and pickerels). The salinity in the creek ranges from 0 -5 ppt, depending on the season and weather and the depth contours in Blounts Creek allow for relatively high salinities compared to the Pamlico River even during times of low salinity in Blount's Bay and the Pamlico River. For example in drought years speckled trout occur in large numbers in the Blounts Creek. With changes in salinity it is possible that speckled trout usage may decline. In addition to salinity changes, flows will change in the headwater swamps of Blounts Creek. These changes of flows can have adverse impacts on all life stages of fishes as well as changing the prey for these fishes. The applicant only describes impacts directly to the headwaters and the ability of the swamp to handle these discharges but there is no mention of the mixing prior to reaching Blounts Creek. In order to determine the full impacts of this project, this information needs to be provided. In the project description the applicant mentions treatment of the water through a series of settling and attenuation but no information is provided as to how this system is designed or where it will be located. In order to fully describe the impacts of the discharge this information needs to be provided. In the project description the applicant mentions that they will make visual observations of the channel stability, but there is no mention of how often it will be monitored or the changes that will be made if the channel does become unstable. Will other creeks be used? In addition the fish community was not adequately sampled as one sampling day does not address seasonal differences in the fish assemblage. Samples should have been performed during different time (i.e. seasonal) periods to account for these differences. This system is an anadromous fish spawning area but no sampling was performed to survey for early life stages and no information is provided on the affects of this mine on this life stage of the resident or migratory species. Anadromous fish such as river herring are known to use forested wetlands as nursery areas and may be negatively impacted ( NCDMF 2007). River herring are declining in numbers in NC and habitat degradation is one of the leading causes for this decline (Limburg and Waldman 2009). Spawning and nursery habitat of anadromous fish needs to be protected and preserved. While NCDMF does not have comments on the current USACE 404 Individual Permit application, the division is concerned about the potential significant adverse impacts that may arise from the overall project. NCDMF cannot make a complete review of the mine project without additional information being provided regarding the discharge system. The NCDMF intends on expressing these comments on the NCDWQ NPDES permit. The NCDMF appreciates the opportunity to review and comment on this project. If you have any comments or questions, please call me at (252) 948 -3878 or email me at Kevin.Hartkncdenr.gov. . Deaton, A. S., W. S. Chappell, K. Hart, J. O'Neal. 2010. North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection Plan. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Division of Marine Fisheries, NC. 617 pages. Limburg, K. E. and J.R. Waldman. 2009. Dramatic Declines in North Atlantic Diadromous Fishes. BioScience 59(11): 955 -965. North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries ( NCDMF). 2007. North Carolina Fishery Management Plan Amendment 1: River Herring. Morehead City, NC.