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Jaimee Davis is the Regulatory point-of-contact for this application for a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard to dredge less than one acre portion of an existing berth area in the Swan Island Lagoon, Portland, Oregon.
PUBLIC NOTICEfor Permit Application
Issue Date: May 26, 2015
Expiration Date: June 25, 2015
US Army Corps of Engineers No: NWP-2013-172
30-Day Notice Oregon Department of State Lands No: 57775-RF
Interested parties are hereby notified that an application has been received for a Department of the Army permit for certain work in waters of the United States, as described below and shown on the attached plan.
Comments: Comments on the described work should reference the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) number shown above and reach this office no later than the above expiration date of this Public Notice to become part of the record and be considered in the decision. Comments should be mailed to the following address:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Branch
Ms. Jaimee Davis (jaimee.w.davis@usace.army.mil)
P.O. 2946
Portland, Oregon 97208-2946
Applicant: U.S. Coast Guard – Civil Engineering Unit Oakland
Attention: Dave Stalters
1301 Clay Street, Suite 700N
Oakland, CA 94612-5203
Locations:
The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) 13th District operates a Marine Safety Unit (MSU) for its Portland Sector. The MSU facility is located at 6767 N. Basin Avenue, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon (Section 17 of Township 1 North, Range 1 East; 45.5708 degrees N, 122.72286 degrees W). The USCG proposes maintenance dredging of a 0.05-acre portion of the existing berth area for the USCG Cutter Bluebell in the Swan Island Lagoon. The MSU Facility is located within the Portland Harbor Superfund Site.
The dredged materials from the Bluebell’s berth are proposed for in-water placement at the Morgan Bar reach of the Columbia River, in Multnomah County, Oregon, (Section 11 of Township 2 North, Range 1 West; 45.66535 degrees N, 122.77073 degrees W).
Waterways:
Maintenance dredging of the Bluebell berth is proposed in the Swan Island Lagoon off of the lower Willamette River (River Mile 7.5). See Figures 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, and 4.
In-water placement of dredged materials is proposed in the active flows of the Columbia River (River Mile 100.50-100.74), near Sauvie Island. See Figures 1d, 2b, and 3.
Project Description: The one-time maintenance dredging project in the Swan Island Lagoon (Willamette River, RM 7.5) will result in the removal of up to 1,000 cubic yards (cy) of coarse-grained (sand) sediments from a 0.05 acre-portion of the USCG Cutter Bluebell’s berth to a depth of -12.65’, Columbia River Datum (CRD) (see Figures 6a & 6b). The landward, 0.05-acre portion of the berth is underlain by existing rip-rap and cannot be easily dredged (see Figures 5a & 5b from its 1974 construction). The dredged materials will be removed by a barge-mounted close-lipped clamshell bucket, loaded onto a scow barge and transported for in-water placement at river mile 100.5 of the Columbia River (see Figure 1d). The dredging work is expected to be completed in less than a week, in October 2015.
The sediments to be dredged from the Bluebell berth have been characterized under the 2009 Sediment Evaluation Framework for the Pacific Northwest (SEF). The Portland Sediment Evaluation Team (PSET) determined on March 25, 2015 that the dredge prism materials are suitable for unconfined, aquatic (in-water) placement based on physical testing, chemical analyses, and bioassay testing conducted in 2013 and 2014. The berth’s sediments are 3.8% gravel, 86.7% sand, and 8.6% silt/clay (fines). Post-dredge grab samples will be conducted to determine the quality of the post-dredge surface layer. If exceedances of screening levels are detected, then a clean sand cover would be placed over the dredged footprint.
No upland work is necessary and no wetland or riparian impacts are expected for this maintenance dredging project. No alterations to shoaling, erosion, or currents of the rivers at the dredging location or placement location are expected from the proposed project. The project will convert shallow water habitat to deep water habitat or vice versa.
The maintenance dredging depth is -12.65’ CRD to include one foot of over-depth beyond the operational depth of -11.65’ CRD (see Figure 6b). The over-depth could accommodate the contingency placement of a 6-inch to 1-foot thick sand cover (<80 cy) if the post-dredge grab samples show there are unacceptable levels of exposure in the new surface material (the surface exposed after dredging). If necessary, the post-dredge sand cover would be placed from a barge using a bucket. The clean sand for the contingency sand cover would be acquired from local commercial sources.
The ~1,000 cy of dredged materials from MSU Portland berth will be placed in the Columbia River at the 8.9-acre Morgan Bar placement area (see Figures 7a & 7b). It is estimated that only one trip to the Morgan Bar placement area will be needed. The placement of ~1,000 cy of coarse-grained (sand) dredged materials would result in a layer with an average thickness of 0.8 inches over the 8.9-acre Morgan Bar placement area. The discharged dredged materials are expected to be rapidly incorporated in the ambient bedload of the Columbia River due to continuous river currents. The dredged materials are expected to migrate downstream as part of the sand wave formations along the bed of the river in this reach. No permanent affects to water quality or the aquatic ecosystem are expected in the Columbia River from the discharge of suitable dredged materials.
The following methods will be employed to avoid and reduce effects to the aquatic environment and aquatic life:
• No man-made debris (metal, wood, trash) from the dredge area will be placed back in water. All man-made debris will be disposed of at a municipal landfill.
• Dredging and placement will be conducted from a barge to avoid land-based activities that could affect riparian or wetland communities.
• Dredging will be completed with a close-lipped environmental bucket to minimize generation of turbidity and increase precision and control of dredging depth.
• In the riprap area, dredging may remove accumulated sediment over the riprap but would not remove the rock.
• Dredging and placement operations would cease if oil sheens or other indicators of contamination were observed.
• Turbidity would be monitored downstream of the dredging and placement areas as required in the Oregon DEQ 401 Water Quality Certification and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) biological opinion (BiOp).
• Once Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultation is complete, the USCG will incorporate the BiOp terms and conditions to avoid and minimize effects to listed species and their habitats.
Mitigation: The applicant has not proposed a compensatory mitigation plan because no permanent impacts to waters of the United States are expected from the proposed maintenance dredging work or in-water placement of dredged materials. No permanent impacts to aquatic functions or values are expected to maintain the berth for the Bluebell. The maintenance dredging of the berth, and subsequent aquatic placement of dredged materials, will not convert shallow water habitats to deep water habitats. No deepening of the berth, change in mission operations, or expansion of the facility is proposed.
Temporary effects to water quality, aquatic organisms, and aquatic habitats will be avoided or minimized by reducing the scale of the project, the timing of the project, type of equipment utilized, best management practices implemented during the operation, and the selection of the aquatic placement site.
If a permit is issued, the Corps will determine what is appropriate and practicable compensatory mitigation. The amount of compensatory mitigation required shall be commensurate with the anticipated impacts of the project.
Purpose: The project purpose is to maintain a safe and functional operational berth depth for Bluebell.
Drawing(s): Fourteen (14) drawings are attached and labeled Corps No. NWP-2013-172.
Additional Information: Additional information may be obtained from Ms. Jaimee Davis, Project Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at (503) 808-4390, or by E-mail (jaimee.w.davis@usace.army.mil).
Authority: This permit will be issued or denied under the following:
Section 10, Rivers and Harbors Act 1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), for work in or affecting navigable waters of the United States.
Section 404, Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1344), for discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States.
Water Quality Certification: A permit for the described work will not be issued until certification, as required under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (P.L. 95 217), has been received or is waived from the certifying state. Attached is the state's notice advertising the request for certification.
Section 404(b)(1) Evaluation: The impact of the activity on the public interest will be evaluated in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency guidelines pursuant to Section 404(b)(1) of the Clean Water Act.
Public Hearing: 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 public hearings shall state with particularity the reasons for holding a public hearing.
Endangered Species: Preliminary determinations indicate that the described activity may affect an endangered or threatened species or its critical habitat. Consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 844) will be initiated. A permit for the proposed activity will not be issued until the consultation process is completed.
Cultural Resources: An initial evaluation of the proposed project area indicates that the described activity is not located on property registered or eligible for registration in the latest published version of the National Register of Historic Places. The permit area has been so extensively modified by modern development that little likelihood exists for the proposed project to affect an undisturbed historic property or any other type of cultural resource. The USCG is the lead federal agency for the project and is coordinating the proposed project with federally-recognized tribes and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).
This notice has been provided to the Oregon SHPO, interested Native American Indian Tribes, and other interested parties. If you have information pertaining to cultural resources within the permit area, please provide this information to the Corps’ project manager (identified on page 1 of this notice) to assist in a complete evaluation of potential effects.
Evaluation: The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impact including cumulative impacts of the described 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 described activity, must be balanced against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. All factors, which may be relevant to the described activity will be considered including the cumulative effects thereof; among those are conservation, economics, aesthetics, general environmental concerns, wetlands, historic properties, fish and wildlife values, flood hazards, floodplain values, land use, navigation, shoreline erosion and accretion, recreation, water supply and conservation, water quality, energy needs, safety, food and fiber production, mineral needs, consideration of property ownership and, in general, the needs and welfare of the people.
The Corps 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 the Corps 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, historic properties, water quality, general environmental effects, and the other public interest factors listed above. Comments are used in the preparation of an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity.
Additional Requirements: State law requires that leases, easements, or permits be obtained for certain works or activity in the described waters. These State requirements must be met where applicable, and a Department of the Army permit must be obtained before any work within the applicable Statutory Authority previously indicated may be accomplished. Other local governmental agencies may also have ordinances or requirements, which must be satisfied before the work is accomplished.
USCG MSU Portland
Figure 1a. Location Map
MSU Portland
Portland Harbor Superfund
Source Map: Oregon DEQ (2014). The USCG MSU Portland facility is a "low" priority upland source
control site (green label).
NWP-2013-172
Figure 1b. Location Map
MSU Portland
USGS Topographic Map
USCG
Bluebell
berth
NWP-2013-172
Figure 1c. Location Map
MSU Portland
14 July 2012 Aerial Photograph (Google Earth)
Coast Guard
Building
USCG Bluebell
berth
LTI-713 Vehicle
PT-658 Boat
NWP-2013-172
Cultural Properties
listed on National
Register
Figure 1d. Location Map Morgan Bar Placement Area
14 July
J l 2014 A
Aerial
i l Ph
Photograph
t
h (Google
(G l Earth)
E th)
Vancouver
Lake
Placement
Area
Sauvie
Island
State Line
River Mile
Marker
NWP-2013-172
Figure 2a. Tax Lot Map
MSU Portland
Tax Lot 1200
MSU Portland
USCG Bluebell
Bl b ll
berth
Source: Portlandmaps.com
NWP-2013-172
Figure 2b.
Tax Lots Map
Tax Lot 100
Tax Lot 200
Morgan B
M
Bar
Placement Area
Tax Lot 300
Morgan Bar
Placement
Area
Tax Lot 400
T L
Tax
Lott 600
Tax Lot 700
Tax Lot 800
Sauvie
Island
Source: Portlandmaps.com
NWP-2013-172
Figure 3. Dredged Materials Placement Area
Morgan
o ga Bar,
a , Co
Columbia
u b a River
e
River Mile 100.50 to 100.74
River Mile 101
Marker
River Mile 100
Marker
SE
NE
SW
NW
Sauvie
Island
NWP-2013-172
Placement Area Corner Coordinates:
Coordinates
NE 122° 46.289 W
SE 122° 46.194 W
45° 40.074 N
45° 39.885 N
NW 122° 46.357 W
SW 122° 46.263 W
45° 40.053 N
45° 39.863 N
Notes:
Soundings are shown in feet and indicate depths
below Columbia River Datum (CRD).
15 December 2014, USACENWP Condition Survey.
Figure 4. MSU Portland Facility Map
Source: URS, 2012
Coast Guard
Building listed
on National
Register
Bluebell
Berth
NWP-2013-172
1974 Crosssection Sta. 0+50 through
slip dredge area (see Figure 5b)
USCG
Bluebell
berth
Figure 5a. MSU Portland
1974 As-Built Construction Drawing Plan View
NWP-2013-172
Source: USCG
Figure 5b. MSU Portland
1974 As-Built Construction Drawing Cross-section
NWP-2013-172
Source: USCG
Figure 6a. Dredge Plan Bluebell Berth
USACE Condition Hydrosurvey 25 March 2013
a
OHWM @ +14.9' CRD
Cross-section a-a'
existing
rip rap
zone
Minimum operational
dredging depth
to 11.65' CRD
a'
Maximum 1foot
overdepth
to 12.65' CRD
NWP-2013-172
Figure 6b. MSU Portland
Dredge Plan Cross
Cross-section
section
Ordinary high water mark elevation is +14.9' CRD
10
a
Existing
8.3''
8.3'
Begin of existing rip rap zone
Proposed
5'
5
5'
FEET
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
Begin berth/dredging
120
140
160
End of existing rip rap zone
5
5
6.7'
7.8'
6.8'
8.2'
7.9'
10
dredge prism
Potential 6-12
6 12" sand cover
cover, if needed
needed,
from -12.6' to -11.6' CRD
10.9'
End of berth
12.6'
12.6'
15
20
End of dredging
9.2'
~100'
Elevations in Feet ((CRD))
NWP-2013-172
~40'
(avg)
12.6'
15.5'
15.5' a'
Figure 7a. Morgan Bar
Placement Plan
River Mile 101
Marker
River Mile 100.50 to 100.74
b
Placement Area
b'
Cross-section b-b'
Sauvie
Island
NWP-2013-172
Source: USACE 2014 Condition Hydrosurvey
Figure 7b. Morgan Bar
Placement Plan Cross-section
Ordinary high water mark elevation is +15.1' CRD
FEET
20
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Ed off area
Edge
Ed off area
Edge
25
Existing
300'
Proposed
30
Elevation in Feeet (CRD)
E
b'
34
35
34
40
Placement prism will average 0.8" over
the 8.9-acre
8 9 acre placement area
45
50
55
b 50
50
50
50
50
51
52
53
52
53
54
55
60
NWP-2013-172
55
56
500
PUBLIC NOTICE
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
Water Quality 401 Certification
Corps of Engineers No: NWP-2013-172
Notice Issued: May 26, 2015
Oregon Department of State Lands No: 57775-RF
Written Comments Due: June 25, 2015
WHO IS THE APPLICANT: U.S. Coast Guard, Civil Engineering Unit - Oakland
LOCATION OF CERTIFICATION ACTIVITY: See attached U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
public notice.
LOCATION OF CERTIFICATION ACTIVITY: See attached U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
public notice.
WHAT IS PROPOSED: See attached U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public notice on the
proposed project.
NEED FOR CERTIFICATION: Section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act requires
applicants for Federal permits or licenses to provide the Federal agency a water quality
certification from the State of Oregon if the proposed activity may result in a discharge to
waters of the state.
DESCRIPTION OF DISCHARGES:
notice on the proposed project.
See attached U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public
WHERE TO FIND DOCUMENTS: Documents and materials related to water quality issues
as a result of the proposal are available for examination and copying at Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality, 401 Water Quality Certification Coordinator, Northwest Region,
2020 S.W. 4th Avenue, Suite 400, Portland, Oregon 97201-4953. Other project materials are
available by contacting the Corps per the attached public notice.
While not required, scheduling an appointment will ensure that water quality documents are
readily accessible during your visit. To schedule an appointment please call DEQ Water
Quality at Northwest Region at (503) 229-5552.
Any questions on the water quality certification process may be addressed to the 401
Program Coordinator at (503) 229-6030 or toll free within Oregon at (800) 452-4011. People
with hearing impairments may call the Oregon Telecommunications Relay Service at 1-800735-2900.
Corps No. NWP-2013-172
Page 1 of 2
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:
Public Hearing: Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 340-48-0032 (2) states that "The Corps
provides public notice of and opportunity to comment on the applications, including the
application for certification, provided that the department (DEQ), in its discretion, may provide
additional opportunity for public comment, including public hearing."
Written comments:
Written comments on project elements related to water quality must be received at the
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality by 5 p.m. on the date specified in the upper
right section on page one of this notice. Written comments may be emailed, mailed or faxed
as described below:
Email - 401publiccomments@deq.state.or.us
Mail - Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Northwest Region
2020 S.W. 4th Avenue Suite 400
Portland, Oregon 97201-4953
Attn: 401 Water Quality Certification Coordinator
Fax - (503) 229-6957
People wishing to send comments via e-mail should send them in Microsoft Word (through
version 7.0), WordPerfect (through version 6.x) or plain text format. Otherwise, due to
conversion difficulties, DEQ recommends that comments be mailed in hard copy.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: DEQ will review and consider all comments received during the
public comment period. Following this review, certification of the proposal may be issued as
proposed, issued with conditions, or denied. You will be notified of DEQ's final decision if you
submit comments during the comment period. Otherwise, if you wish to receive notification,
please call or write DEQ at the above address.
ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION: This publication is available in alternate format (e.g. large
print, Braille) upon request. Please contact DEQ Office of Communications and Outreach at
(503) 229-5317 or toll free within Oregon at 1-800-452-4011 to request an alternate format.
People with a hearing impairment can receive help by calling the Oregon
Telecommunications Relay Service at 1-800-735-2900.
Corps No. NWP-2013-172
Page 2 of 2