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Home My WebLink About20080868 Ver 2_DWQ Public Notice Response Draft_20090218February 18, 2009 Ms. Breta Stroud 211 Pollock Street Beaufort, NC 28516 Dear Ms. Stroud, Thank you for your e-mail to Governor Perdue's office expressing your concerns over the issuance of a water quality certification for the expansion of PCS Phosphate Company, Inc. mining operations in Beaufort County. The Governor asked that I respond on her behalf. Projects that propose to impact streams and wetlands and other waters of the nation are required to be permitted through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. PCS Phosphate began the process for authorization in 2000. As part of the permitting process, the Clean Water Actrequires that the state where the proposed iDeleted: oips impacts would occur certify thatrtn< lederall, permitted project \? ith a dischan e of dredged of Deleted: the I i_I I material will support water quality standards. The process of evaluating the issuance of a , water quality certification emphasizes the need to minimize impacts as much as practicable, to conduct activities in a manner consistent with state water quality standards and to mitigate for impacts to streams and wetlands so that the ia\ oidahlc impacts ?tIand s and streinis are ?--- ? ? I , Dee eted: functional pal equivalent of the i rc lace 1. t Deleted: is realized In the case of the PCS Phosphate expansion when competed"( the original proposal, impacts to i Deleted: streams have been reduced by 60 percent and to wetlands by 30 percent. The certification , _ approves impacts to 25,727 feet of streams, 3,953 acres of wetlands,, 19 acres of ponds and 47.87 afro uluaririg Deleted: acres of streamside buffers. These impacts are anticipated to occur over a 35-year period on three LDel eted: ; tracts of land on the east, south and west of the current mining site. ,Amon the «etlands no ; Deleted: ; long cr beint impacted arc 38 acres of salt marsh and 172 acres of bottomland hardt\ nod tinest \vhich have a direct connection to our important downstream estuaries The certification requires that the Bonnerton Road Non-Riverine Wet Hardwood Forest located west of the current mining site be protected. This area is deemed a "wetland of exceptional, Deleted: state or national ecological significancq;' due to its lack of'distuthance. age and the dig ersitN o species - Deleted: rcoiog)tAuk jhat are present. The amendment does allow a 1,145 foot wide mining and utility corridor in the narrowest part of the forest to facilitate the movement of machinery from one part of the mining Deleted: types and diversity of site to another. Phis corridor v\ould havc to he extcnsivcly monitored before. durinL, and after Deleted: both plant and animal - rninin, and then the connection recst,ahlishcd on Lin accelerated schcdulc in order to restore the %Nctland connection hctween the tt\o partsofthe hardv+ood (lat. The certification also includes general and specific conditions for protection of water quality standards and the,protcction of the designated uses of downstream areas. Among the conditions i Deleted: preservation detailed are requirements for sedimentation and erosion control and groundwater monitoring for several chemical parameters and to ensure that the hydrology of adjacent wetland areas is maintained. A water management and stream monitoring plan for water quality, water quantity, fish and other aquatic animal populations shall be continued for the life of the permit.,This plan Deleted: New production areas will be \N Of be designed to assure the protection of downstream water quality standards including i evaluated through monitoring before primary and secondary nursery area functions in all tributaries to South Creek Porter Creek impacts are allowed co proceed. , , Durham Creek and the Pamlico River adjacent to the mine site. Deleted: sha Wetland and stream mitigation is required by the certification to be done in accordance with mitigation approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Diy"ision of Water Quality, { Deleted: ; Mitigation for allowed impacts to streams and wetlandsat a two-to-one ratio ?yith annual ^ - - Deleted: m renottim,, to ensure that the mitigation is successful. Buffer mitigation is to be carried out for - -- approximately 23 acres of the approved buffer impacts. 1he remaining proposed buffer impacts Deleted: shall occur , annot ocau• unless PCS Phosphate locates additional buf(cr mitigation sites in the future or Deleted: Mmgation fort unless the I:m ironmental Nlann,-)cmcnt Commission approves a flexible bufter mitigation Deleted: is subject to state approach Environmental Management Commission approval and may require an alternative approach to development of the site. It is not surprising that many agencies, both state and federal, as well as local environmental -- - - groups have been involved in the process of evaluating the project over the past eight years. Included in the process were representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the state Division of Marine Fisheries, the Division of Water Quality, the Department of Cultural Resources, the Tar Pamlico River Foundation and the Tar Pamlico Riverkeeper, Environmental Defense and the Southern Environmental Law Center. PCS Phosphate must get additional authorizations for the permit to go forward. The applicant must provide to the Corps p consistenc\,statement that the proposed activity is consistent with {Deleted: a North Carolina Coastal Zone Management Program. The North Carolina Division of Coastal Deleted: certification Management must notify the Corps that it concurs with the certification. The final decision as to permit approval rests with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is often true that government is required to balance impacts to the environment with the needs of the economy. PCS Phosphate is a well established concern in Beaufort that mines mineral deposits unique to the area and provides employment for thousands of residents. The Division of Water Quality strives to find ways that productive concerns can operate in cooperation with the needs of the environment. By minimizing the amount of impacts, requiring a 2:1 replacement Im una\oidably impacted wetlands and streams. requiring proteetioR for unique habitats„ protection ( Deleted: s do\\mstreum water quality standards and monitoring for water quality, quantity and biological Deleted; preservi ng integrity, the D,jvision promotes a healthy environment and supports wise economic choices. - -- --_- 11 Deleted: d Sincerely, Coleen Sullins, Director N.C. Division of Water Quality