20061581 Ver 1_USACE Correspondence_20061113

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WILMINGTON DISTRICT, CORPS OF ENGINEERS
PO BOX 1890
WILMINGTON NC 28402-1890
November 8, 2006
Regulatory Division
Action ID No. SAW-2003-1188-065
New Hanover County Engineering Department
Attn: Mr. Gregory Thompson
230 Market Place Drive, Suite 16
Wilmington, North Carolina 28403
Dear Mr. Thompson:
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Please reference your Individual Permit application for Department of the Army (DA)
authorization to permanently impact 1.937 acres of Section 404 jurisdictional wetlands and 1.108
acres of Waters of the United States and to temporarily impact 0.55 acre of Section 404 wetlands
and 0.064 acre of coastal wetlands for the purpose of installing water wells, water lines,
discharge (outfall) line, and access roads, for the New Hanover County Well Field and Water
Treatment Plant project. The proposed jurisdictional impacts are to Waters of the United States,
including wetlands, that are adjacent to or hydrologically connected to unnamed tributaries to
Smith Creek, a tributary to the Northeast Cape Fear River, a Navigable Water of the United
States; Pages Creek, a tributary to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), also a Navigable
Water of the United States; and the ICW itself. The project areas are located throughout the
northeastern section of New Hanover County, including the Greenview Ranches area, Ogden
Park, Old Oak, Edgewater Club and Porters Neck Roads, and Market Street, northeast of
Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina.
On February 6, 1990, the Department of the Army (DA) and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) establishing procedures
to determine the type and level of mitigation necessary to comply with Clean Water Act Section
404(b)(1) Guidelines. This MOA provides for first, avoiding impacts to waters and wetlands
through the selection of the least damaging, practical alternative; second, taking appropriate and
practical steps to reduce impacts on waters and wetlands; and finally, compensation for
remaining unavoidable impacts to the extent appropriate and practical. To enable us to process
your application, in compliance with the MOA, we request that you provide the following
additional information:
a. Permits for work within wetlands or other special aquatic sites are available only if the
proposed work is the least environmentally damaging, practicable alternative. Please furnish
information regarding any other alternatives, including upland alternatives, to the work for which

you have applied and provide justification that your selected plan is the least damaging to water
or wetland areas.
b. It is necessary for you to have taken all appropriate and practicable steps to minimize wetland
losses. Please indicate all that you have done, especially regarding development and modification of
plans and proposed construction techniques, to minimize adverse impacts.
c. The MOA requires that appropriate and practicable mitigation will be required for all
unavoidable adverse impacts remaining after the applicant has employed all appropriate and
practicable minimization. Please indicate your plan to mitigate for the projected, unavoidable
loss of waters or wetlands or provide information as to the absence of any such appropriate and
practicable measures.
The aforementioned, requested information is essential to the expeditious processing of your
application; please forwarded this information to us within two (2) weeks of your receipt of this
letter. In addition, you should be aware that State and Federal commenting agencies might
recommend design modifications.
Finally, please be aware that the Corps cannot issue a final permit for your proposed activity
until your project has been determined consistent with the approved state Coastal Zone
Management (CZM) Program. Please reference the enclosed document titled "North Carolina
Federal Consistency Certification Submission Guidance (Subpart "D" 15 CFR 930)", for
information on the steps involved in obtaining this determination. Once you have made this
determination, you should submit to the Corps a statement indicating that your proposed activity
complies with, and would be conducted in a manner that is consistent with, the approved state
CZM Program. The Corps will then forward your determination to the North Carolina Division
of Coastal Management with a request for concurrence ornon-concurrence.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me at [phone].
Sincerely,
Jennifer S. Frye, Project Manager
Wilmington Regulatory Field Office

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Copies Furnished (with enclosure):
Ms. Kim Williams
Land Management Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2522
Wilmington, North Carolina 28402
Copies Furnished (without enclosure):
Ms. Becky Fox
Wetlands Regulatory Section -Region IV
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1349 Firefly Road
Whittier, North Carolina 28789
Mr. Doug Huggett
Division of Coastal Management
N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
1638 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1638
Mr. Stephen Rynas
Federal Consistency Coordinator
N.C. Division of Coastal Management
Hestron Plaza II, 151 B, Highway 24
M ehead City, North Carolina 28557-2518
s. Cyndi Karoly
Division of Water Quality
N.C. Department of Environment
and Natural Resources
2321 Crabtree Boulevard
Raleigh North Carolina 27604-2260
Mr. Pete Benjamin
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fish and Wildlife Enhancement
Post Office Box 33726
Raleigh, North Carolina 27636-3726