20140957 Ver 1_FNCWHF Easement Stewardship Juniper Farms_20160210

Burdette, Jennifer a
From: Merritt, Katie
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 2:39 PM
To: Burdette, Jennifer a
Subject: FW: NCWHF Easement Stewardship: Juniper Farms Mitigation Site in Johnston County,
NC
Since you are involved with the 401 permitting of the gas line I wanted to keep you in the loop of the conversations
regarding issues at the site below.
-----Original Message -----
From: Gibby, Jean B SAW[mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 2:03 PM
To: Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>, [e-mail], Biddlecome, William J SAW
<[e-mail]>
Cc: David Murphy <[e-mail]>, Haupt, Mac <[e-mail]>, McLendon, Scott C SAW
<[e-mail]>, Wicker, Henry M JR SAW <[e-mail]>, Tugwell, Todd
SAW <[e-mail]>, Thomas, John T JR SAW <[e-mail]>, Hughes, Andrea W
SAW <[e-mail]>, Pruitt, Carl E SAW <[e-mail]>
Subject: RE: NCWHF Easement Stewardship: Juniper Farms Mitigation Site in Johnston County, NC
Matthew,
Based upon our earlier conversation of today, please provide a point of contact with the North Carolina Wildlife Habitat
Foundation and phone number, so that we may reach out to them or you could have that individual contact Mr. Bill
Biddlecome at 910-251-4558 to discuss the potential unauthorized work (road construction) through the Juniper Farms
Mitigation site, which is a site under the Neu -Con Umbrella Bank that was originally developed by EBX. This site is
currently owned by Mr. Val Valentine, who is the owner of the property, Neuse Tree Farm, LLC. I realize that the
foundation has their attorneys working on it, but we would like to gain a better understanding of the work which has been
accomplished out on the subject site first.
In addition, you mention the possibility for additional road construction, outside of the easement. If any such work has
occurred in jurisdictional waters of the US, to include wetlands, regulated pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act,
then Mr. John Thomas in our shop would need to investigate those activities. Any photos that you have of the subject
work would be greatly appreciated.
At this point, we would like first to talk with the foundation's POC and if a site visit is necessary, then we would like to
coordinate it with all possible parties.
Finally, in a separate email, you mention the potential for the Dominion's proposed Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline
(ACP) which is currently proposed to dissect the mitigation site. I spoke with Mr. Spencer Trichell, agent acting on
Dominion's behalf for the environmental work and DA permitting, on 8 Feb 16, about the possibility of the ACP cutting
through the mitigation site and he was advised that while the majority of the pipeline is currently proposed to be verified
under NWP 12, SAW Corps would take the necessary steps to require a standard permit for this crossing, which would
take considerably more time to evaluate. He advised me that they are currently evaluating an alternative to the west and
to the east of the existing route at this time. However, currently, due to the limited amount of information provided for
our evaluation, we are unable to make a final decision at this time as to the direction of the permit.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to either Bill or myself and we look forward to working
with the foundation's representative.
Many thanks for your coordination efforts with both of our offices, we greatly appreciate that.
V/ R,
Jean B. Gibby
Chief, Raleigh Field Office
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
3331 Heritage Trade Drive, Suite 105
Wake Forest, NC 27587
[phone], Ext. 24
The Wilmington District is committed to providing the highest level of support to the public. To help us ensure we
continue to do so, please complete the Customer Satisfaction Survey located at http://regulatory.usacesurvey.com/.
-----Original Message -----
From: Merritt, Katie[mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2016 4:56 PM
To: [e-mail], Biddlecome, William J SAW <[e-mail]>, Gibby, Jean B
SAW <[e-mail]>
Cc: David Murphy <[e-mail]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: NCWHF Easement Stewardship: Juniper Farms Mitigation Site in Johnston County, NC
Thank you for the heads up Matthew, we really appreciate it. If there are 404 violations, there may also be 401 violations.
Therefore, I am cc'ing the DWR Regional Office 401 staff, Cheri Smith, that would need to be included on any follow-up
site visits or correspondence, as well as Mac Haupt, our stream & wetland mitigation coordinator.
Thank you,
Katie
From: Matthew Harrell [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2016 4:54 PM
To: [e-mail], [e-mail], Merritt, Katie <[e-mail]>
Cc: David Murphy <[e-mail]>
Subject: NCWHF Easement Stewardship: Juniper Farms Mitigation Site in Johnston County, NC
To Whom It May Concern:

The North Carolina Wildlife Habitat Foundation holds conservation easements related to the Juniper Farms Mitigation Site
in Johnston County that was developed by EBX. During the 2015 monitoring visit major easement violations were
identified.
The landowner used heavy equipment to construct elevated road beds through the easement (wetland preservation
mitigation credit area). Attorneys for NCWHF are currently preparing a notice of violation for the landowner. This letter
will be copied to USACE and NCDENR.
Beyond the violations to the recorded easement, there are likely 404 impacts and impacts to the mitigation credits. The
landowner built up roads and installed bridges outside of the easement area as well as within it. The agencies with
jurisdiction over these impacts to the Neuse River floodplain should make a site visit sometime soon. I can provide field
notes from my site visit and a basic map of the impacts if that is helpful.
Expect to see a copy of the formal violation notice sometime soon.
Thanks,
Matthew Harrell
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