20090297 Ver 1_More Info Received_20090518

ILF? THE LPA GROUP INCORPORATED ac?- Dof a 1
Transportation Consultants
700 HUGER STREET ¦ PO. BOX 5805 ¦ COLUMBIA, SC 29250 ¦ 803-254-2211 ¦ FAX [phone]
May 1, 2009 Ql'' @
o
Ms. Cyndi Karoly MAY 1 8 2009
North Carolina Division of Water Quality
401 Oversight and Express Review Program DENR - WATER QUALITY
2321 Crabtree Boulevard, Suite 250 WETLANDS ANDSTORMOJATERBRANCH
Raleigh, NC 27604
Re: Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport (DWQ# 2009-0297) Pond Drainage -
Response to Request for More Information (Conceptual Replanting Plan)
Ms. Karoly:
On behalf of the Halifax-Northampton Regional Airport Authority, THE LPA GROUP
INCORPORATED submitted a Buffer Authorization on March 19, 2009, requesting to
drain a pond in order to comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Separation
Standards as defined in FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5200-33B, Hazardous Wildlife
Attractants on or Near Airports. This letter serves as a response to the April 2, 2009
letter from the North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ).
Please find attached five (5) copies of the conceptual replanting plan as requested by
DWQ.
Please contact me at 843-329-0050 or esmailglpagroup.com if you have any questions or
require additional information.
Sincerely,
THE LPA GROUP INCORPORATED
Edward J. Smail
Environmental Scientist
Cc: Ms. Lauren Witherspoon, NCDWQ
Mr. James Lastinger, USACE
Mr. Terry Bumpus, P.E., THE LPA GROUP
Mr. Gordon Murphy, THE LPA GROUP
Project File
ATLANTA ¦ BATON ROUGE ¦ CHARLESTON ¦ CHARLOTTE ¦ COLUMBIA ¦ GREENSBORO ¦ GULFPORT ¦ JACKSONVILLE
KNOXVILLE ¦ LITTLE ROCK ¦ MOBILE ¦ ORLANDO ¦ RALEIGH ¦ SARASOTA ¦ TALLAHASSEE ¦ TAMPA ¦ WEST PALM BEACH

Halifax Northampton Regional Airport
Pond Drainage
Conceptual Planting Plan
Introduction
The Halifax Northampton Regional Airport has proposed the drainage of a pond to
comply with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety regulations, as defined in
FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5200-33B, Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or Near
Airports. The pond is considered a hazardous wildlife attractant, and to minimize life and
property, the FAA specifies a separation distance of 5,000 feet for Airports serving
piston-powered aircraft and hazardous wildlife attractants. The existing pond is located
approximately 2,300 feet south of the existing runway.
The existing pond provides habitat for Canada goose and other waterfowl, and due to the
gently sloped banks and shallow water the pond also provides feeding habitat for wading
birds. In order to meet the separation requirements for hazardous wildlife attractants set
forth in FAA AC 15/5200-33B and improve safety at the Airport by removing an
attractant to large bodied birds, the pond located approximately 2,300 feet south of
Runway 2-20 must be drained.
Drainage of a buffered pond is exempt from the Tar-Pamlico Buffer Rules (15A NCAC
2B.0259) provided that a new riparian buffer established. Buffer Clarification #2007-012
specifies that once a pond is drained buffers must be replanted along the newly formed
stream channel. This conceptual plan was created to comply with the replanting
requirements set forth in Buffer Clarification #2007-012 if a stream channel is
determined to form within at least six months of breaching the dam.
Replanting
In order to qualify for the exemption from the Tar-Pamlico Buffer Rules, if a natural
stream channel forms in the base of the drained pond, approximately 1,430 linear feet of
riparian buffer (3.28 acres) would be replanted with native hardwood vegetation (as
shown on Figure 1). Since the Airport does not own the entire pond, the length of
restoration is limited by the property boundary.
Tree seedlings would be planted in the buffer site on 10-foot centers, in rows spaced 10
feet apart, which would provide a total of 436 trees per acre. Trees would be hand
planted as bare root seedlings at this rate to allow for mortality while still meeting the
required 320 stems per acre at maturity. Since it is not know at this time what the
hydrology of the site would be speculative species for both a wet and dry site were
determined, as shown in Table 1 below.
1
Table 1
Buffer Restoration Site
Potential Tree Species
Common Name S ecies* Wetland Indicator
Southern red oak uercus alcata var. falcata FACU-
Lobloll pine Pinus taeda FAC
Water oak uercus ni ra FAC
White oak uercus alba FACU
Green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica FACW
Tulip poplar Liriodendron tuli ifera FAC
Willow oak uercus hellos FACW-
S camore Plantanus occidentalis FACW-
*Species are subject to availability
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