20150525 Ver 1_Staff Comments_20071003

W A T FRpG
MEMO
TO: Linda Pearsall
FROM: John Dorney
RE: Initial review of newly proposed OLF sites
DATE: October 3, 2007
Michael F. Easley, Governor
William G. Ross Jr., Secretary
North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Coleen H. Sullins, Director
Division of Water Quality
I have looked over the seven newly proposed OLF sites (aerial photos as well as the summary table)
and have the following initial comments on these sites as well as other potential sites. Chuck Wakild and I will
be glad to discuss these thoughts in our meeting tomorrow.
1. Moyock site - This site has the lowest amount of wetlands and a very low amount of human impact
as well as very few T & E impacts. We see no "show stopper" issues with this site and believe that
it should be pursued thru the planning process.
2. Sandbank site - This site also has a low number of human impact (core and > 75 DNL contour) but
a very large amount of wetland impact (1,269 acres from the NC CREWS database). In addition, it
is in the Chowan River watershed which is Nutrient Sensitive Waters and any runoff from the site
would have to be designed to control nutrients (for instance with constructed wetlands rather than
wet detention ponds). It may be very difficult to permit this amount of wetland fill depending on the
type of wetlands (riparian vs non-riparian). Certainly this site is less preferable than the Moyock site
and therefore we believe that this site should not be pursued thru the planning process.
3. Northwest River - This site has a very large amount of wetland fill (1,758 acres by NC CREWS
data) and the highest amount of human impact (core and > 75 DNL contour). We believe that
these may be "show stopper issues" and therefore we believe that this site should not be pursued
thru the planning process.
4. Old Railroad Grade - This site has the second lowest number of wetlands (977 acres - which is still
a lot of wetland fill) and a very low amount of human impact (core and > 75 DNL contour). We see
no "show stopper" issues with this site and believe that it should be pursued thru the planning
process.
5. Hofmann Forest (1) - This site has a very high amount of wetland impact (1,834 acres) and a large
number of human impacts as well as a high number of T& E species. We believe that all of these
issues could be "show stoppers" and therefore, we believe that this site should not be pursued thru
the planning process.
6. Hofman Forest (2) - This site has the highest amount of wetland impact (1,965 acres) as well as a
high number of T& E species. We believe that all of these issues could be "show stoppers" and
therefore, we believe that this site should not be pursued thru the planning process.
7. Angola Bay - This site has a very high amount of wetland impact (1,957 acres) and a large number
of human impacts as well as a high number of T& E species. We believe that all of these issues
could be "show stoppers" and therefore, we believe that this site should not be pursued thru the
planning process.
Noce hCarolina
Naturally
Wetlands and Stormwater Branch 1617 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1617 Phone [phone]
Internet: h2o.enr.state.nc.us 512 N. Salisbury St. Raleigh, NC 27604 FAX [phone]
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer - 50% Recycled/10% Post Consumer Paper
Other possible sites - As reiterated in our earlier comments dated March 30, 2007 on the OLF Draft
EIS, we believe that additional sites need to be examined in detail including 1) Open Grounds Farms,
2) renovation of the existing OLF at Oak Grove field, and 3) construction to two smaller OLF sites
(including maybe renovation of Oak Grove Field or utilization of fields at Cherry Point Air Station. We
believe that any of these alternatives would have less environmental impact than several of the
proposed sites and should be thoroughly and carefully considered in this process.
Thank you for the opportunity to relay our initial thoughts. I will be prepared to discuss these
ideas at our meeting tomorrow. If you have any questions, I can be reached at 733-9646.
Cc: Chuck Wakild
Kyle Barnes, WaRO
Cyndi Karoly
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