Home

Nashville District

Run scraper

Public Notice No. 17-24

Basic information

Fill out these two fields at minimum.

— or —

How Big?

Where?

Links to source documents

Raw text

You can copy from here when filling out the rest of the page.

Proposed Barge Fleeting Areas along Tennessee River Mile 20.0 to 20.7, Right Bank, Livingston County, Kentucky (Trinity Energy & Infrastructure Group, LLC, Fleeting)

Public Notice No. 17-24 Nashville District Application No. LRN-2017-00682 Date October 24, 2017; Expires: November 22, 2017

Please address all comments to: Nashville District Corps of Engineers,

Regulatory Division, 3701 Bell Road, Nashville, TN 37214 (Attn: Lisa R. Morris) JOINT PUBLIC NOTICE

US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS and TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

SUBJECT: Proposed Barge Fleeting Areas along Tennessee River Mile 20.0 to 20.7, Right Bank, Livingston County, Kentucky (Trinity Energy & Infrastructure Group, LLC, Fleeting)

TO ALL CONCERNED: The project described below has been submitted for a Department of the Army (DA) Permit pursuant to Section 10 of the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act and a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) permit pursuant to Section 26a of the TVA Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has

lead federal agency role status for the coordination and conduct of environmental reviews for this proposal under the National Environmental Policy Act.

APPLICANT: Trinity Energy & Infrastructure Group, LLC 8345 Madisonville Road

Hopkinsville, KY 42240

LOCATION: Tennessee River Mile 20.0 to 20.7, Right Bank, Gilbertsville, Livingston County, Kentucky. USGS Map: Little Cypress-KY. Lat: 37.033647; Lon: -88.297531. Navigation Chart No. 3.

DESCRIPTION: The applicant is requesting to establish two (2) barge fleeting areas, each to hold twenty-five (25) barges in a 5x5 configuration for a total of fifty (50) standard sized barges (35’ x 195’) fleeting at the subject location. The barges would be secured by a total of six, 24”

diameter steel dolphins (three in each area), and placed 15 to 20 meters off the shoreline (Elevation 302.0). The upstream fleeting area would be used for empty barges (requires 2’ draft), and the downstream fleeting area would be used for both loaded and unloaded barges (9’ draft).

The dolphins would consist of a 72” diameter pipe driven into the river bottom to Elevation 260 and braced by two (2) angled 24” diameter pipes. A typical drawing of the dolphins is attached to this notice. Coordinates of the Dolphins, are as follows:

#1 Dolphin: 37° 1' 58.829''; -88° 17' 28.633''

#2 Dolphin: 37° 2' 1.104''; -88° 17' 30.844''

#3 Dolphin: 37° 2' 3.390''; -88° 17' 33.068''

#4 Dolphin: 37° 2' 17.376''; -88° 17' 46.000''

#5 Dolphin: 37° 2' 19.939''; -88° 17' 47.677''

#6 Dolphin: 37° 2' 22.495''; -88° 17' 49.355''

A recent mussel survey of the sites documented water depths of 10’ to 23’ feet deep at 20 meters off the shoreline. According to the application, a minimum of 9’ of water depth between barge and river bottom would be maintained in the upper fleeting area (where only empty barges are stored) and a minimum of 14’ water depth would be maintained in the lower fleeting area (where loaded barges would be moored). The applicant has indicated that dredging is not required. The Tennessee River is 1,350’ +/- feet wide in this area. The outside of the fleeting areas would not extend riverward more than 280 feet (85 meters). It is anticipated that a small low horsepower “switch boat,” stored at a separate local facility, would be utilized to move barges in and out of the fleeting areas.

PROJECT PURPOSE: The fleeting area would allow both loaded and unloaded barges of a single local user to be moored locally to improve the efficiency of that company’s commercial operation, and to minimize the travel time/distance to store and retrieve loaded/empty barges for processing. A condition of the lease would be the user would be responsible for compliance of the area (ensuring only empty barges are stored in the upstream barge fleeting area) and the user must store any work boats at a separate location.

SCOPE OF WORK: The scope of work is the footprint of the two fleeting areas (located over designated critical habitat for the Quadrula cylindrica (rabbitsfoot mussel)) including direct impacts in each of the dolphin locations. Plans of the proposed work are attached to this notice.

AVOIDANCE AND MINIMIZATION OF IMPACTS TO WATERS OF THE U.S.:

According to the applicant, multiple locations were considered between TRM 17.5 and 21.5 for potential fleeting areas. Alternative fleeting methods, navigational impacts, river depths, and overall impacts to aquatic species were reviewed and compared to the applicant’s preferred proposal. The layout and designated use of the two fleeting areas was redesigned to avoid the mussel communities identified in a recent survey as much as possible. Originally, numerous deadman anchors were planned for securing barges. The current application, based upon the findings of the mussel survey, proposes to secure the barges with mooring dolphins, in deeper water, preventing the barges from hitting the river bottom by moving with the current or due to wave action. The

applicant found that many of the other locations did not have adequate water depths and/or had known mussel densities too great to disturb. The applicant indicated that a minimal fleeting area has been proposed that would meet their needs.

PUBLIC INTEREST REVIEW/CUMULATIVE EFFECTS: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts including cumulative impacts of the activity on the public interest. That decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of

important resources. The benefit, which reasonably may be expected to accrue from the work, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors, which may be relevant to the work, will be considered including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation,

economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, cultural values, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shore erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, considerations of property ownership, and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people. A permit will be granted unless the District Engineer determines it to be contrary to the public interest.

SOLICITATION OF COMMENTS: USACE is soliciting comments from the public; federal, state, and local agencies and officials; Indian Tribes; and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity. Any comments received will be considered by USACE

to determine whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permit for this proposal. To make this decision, comments are used to assess impacts on endangered species, historical properties, water quality, and general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above.

Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to NEPA. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. An EA will be prepared by this office prior to a final decision concerning issuance or denial of the requested permits.

HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES: The USACE archaeologist has reviewed the project proposal and determined there is little likelihood that a historic property exists or may be effected. A copy of this notice is being sent to the office of the State Historic Preservation Officer. This Public

Notice also serves to initiate public involvement requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. USACE invites responses to this notice from Native American Tribes or tribal governments; Federal, State, and local agencies; historical and archeological societies; and other parties likely to have knowledge of or concerns regarding historic properties and sites of religious and cultural significance at or near the project area.

ENDANGERED/THREATENED SPECIES REVIEW: The proposed project has potential to impact listed mussel species and critical habitat for the Quadrula cylindrica (rabbitsfoot mussel). Seven mussel species potentially affected by the proposed project are: Orangefoot Pimpleback (Plethobasus cooperianus),

Fat Pocketbook (Potamilus capax), Pink Mucket (Lampsilis abrupta), Fanshell (Cyprogenia stegaria), Ringpink (Obovaria retusa), Spectaclecase (Cumberlandia monodonta), and the Rabbitsfoot (Quadrula cylindrica).

In 2017, Lewis Environmental Consulting, LLC, performed a mussel survey on the areas proposed for fleeting between Tennessee River Miles (TRM) 20.0 and 20.7 along the right descending bank in Livingston County, Kentucky. Specifically, two areas were surveyed including one area 1,200 feet (365 meters) in length and another 1,500 feet (457 meters) in length. The mussel survey was conducted in order to assess the current mussel fauna in the area and to determine if the potential exists for federally or state listed endangered or threatened mussel species to be present. Additionally, the survey recorded water depths in the area. From 0 to 10 meters, water depth ranged from 0 to 6 feet deep, and 20 meters from shore, the water depth ranged from 10 to 23 feet deep and averaged 18 feet deep.

The 2017 survey of TRM 20.0 to 20.7 found a total of 5,992 live mussels from 29 unionid species.One mussel of the federally threatened species Quadrula cylindrical (Rabbitsfoot) was discovered in transacts surveyed for the lower fleeting area. In transacts surveyed for the upper fleeting area, one mussel of each Pink mucket and Orangefoot pimpleback and three individuals of Rabbitsfoot mussel were collected. The applicant has proposed to retain a malacologist to relocate mussels in the footprint of each dolphin to prevent any adverse impact to the mussels.

A biological assessment of the project's potential impact on protected mussel species Lampsilis abrupta (Pink mucket) and Plethobasus cooperianus (Orangefoot pimpleback) and Quadrula cylindrica (Rabbitsfoot mussel), critical habitat, and protected terrestrial species is being prepared and will be provided, when available, to the USFWS, by separate correspondence. The agencies will initiate consultation with the USFWS necessary to fulfill our obligations under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

OTHER APPROVALS: Other federal, state, and/or local approvals may be required for the proposed work.

PUBLIC HEARING REQUESTS: Any person may request, in writing, within the comment period specified in this notice, that a public hearing be held to consider this application. Requests for hearings shall state, with particularity, the reasons for holding a hearing.

COMMENT PERIOD: Written statements received in this office on or before November 22, 2017, will become a part of the record and considered in the determination. Any response to this notice should be directed to the Regulatory Branch, Attention: Lisa Morris, at the above address, telephone

615-369-7506. It is not necessary to comment separately to TVA since copies of all comments will be sent to them and become part of their records on the proposal.

/s/ Timothy C. Wilder

Chief, West Branch Regulatory Division

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Rough impact

We use the fields in this section to decide whether to conduct an in-depth review.

Permit Manager

Dates

Identity numbers

Permits, certifications, and locations related to this particular notice

History of edits

Data are available as CSV download in the following schemas