_External_ W-5706C_ Bladen Co__ new wetland identified

Carpenter, Kristi
From:
James Mason
<[e-mail]>
Sent:
Friday, April 26, 2019 1:44 PM
To:
[e-mail]; Steenhuis, Joanne
Cc:
Price, Gregory W; Suzanne Young
Subject:
[External] W-5706C, Bladen Co., new wetland
identified
Attachments:
W-5706C_FINAL_DESIGNS_LiDAR.pdf,
W-5706C FINAL DESIGNS with New Wetland
included.pdf
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Liz and Joanne -
I hope that both of you are doing well. I am emailing because an issue recently came up
regarding TIP No. W-5706C in Bladen County. W-5706C proposes to construct a
roundabout at the NC 410 intersection with NC 41, less than one mile south of the Town
of Dublin, and approximately five miles west of the Town of Elizabethtown. Three Oaks
Engineering had initially completed wetland and stream delineations for the project
approximately 2 years ago. At that time, it was determined that no potential
jurisdictional features were located within the study area. However, in recent weeks,
WK Dickson was performing jurisdictional resource assessments for a larger utility
project that ran through the area and identified a potential area of concern in the
southeast quadrant of the project. I visited the site yesterday and confirmed the
presence of a potential jurisdictional wetland (please see attached aerial map ). Based
on LiDAR, it does appear to eventually connect to other jurisdictional features via the
ditch system (see attached LiDAR Map). I am currently compiling the Jurisdictional
Determination Package for the project and hope to submit that to you in the next few
days with photographs of the site.
The main question that I have regarding the project is permitting. This project was
recently awarded to the contractor and they anticipate starting work soon. The work is
to be done during the summer when school is out of session. After reviewing the final
design (which is shown on the aerial map), approximately 0.078 acres of the wetland are
within the proposed ROW limits. My assumption is that this entire area will be
impacted, with a portion covered by fill and the remaining being impacted by
mechanized clearing. I am also assuming that this project would be covered by a NWP
14; this would make the impacts below the 0.1 acre PCN requirement for USACE, but a
written NCDWR Certification would be required. Based on the project type and those
impacts, would you agree that a NWP 14 would be appropriate and that my
assumptions are correct? Also, I am assuming that the contractor would want to begin
the project without any delays. If you agree with our assessment, would it be acceptable
for them to begin construction activities in upland while the permitting for the wetland
is being processed?

I apologize for not providing this information sooner; we only very recently were
notified about the presence of this feature and just went out yesterday. We just want to
make sure that the project is properly permitted and all potential jurisdictional features
are accounted for before construction begins.
If you could email me back when you have an opportunity it would be much
appreciated.
Thanks and have a great weekend,
Jim
James Mason
Senior Environmental Scientist
Three Oaks Engineering
324 Blackwell Street, Suite 1200
Durham, NC 27701
919-732-1300 (office)
704-604-8358 (mobile)
[e-mail]
www.threeoaksengineering.com