Public Notices

18 Jul 2016

POA-2012-705,Piledriver Slough

Expiration date: 8/18/2016

PURPOSE: Mr. Chris Farmier's stated purpose is to develop a material site as a gravel source for current Eielson Airforce Base upgrade projects and future commercial material sales. PROPOSED WORK: The applicant proposes to mechanically clear and place fill into approximately 21 acres of wetlands for the construction of a gravel pit, work pad, and an access road. The proposed work plans call for the construction of an access road consisting of approximately one acre linking the property to the Richardson Highway. Once completed, plans call for the excavation of an approximately 400’ x 250’ (2.3 acres) gravel pit, which will be surrounded by an additional 17.5 acre gravel pad to provide a work area for gravel extraction. The applicant will temporarily stockpile approximately 120,000 cubic yards (CY) each of organic overburden material and excavated gravel, as well as store equipment utilized in the mining operation upon the work pad area. All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan sheets (sheets 1-3), dated May 19, 2016. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The proposed project area consists entirely in wetlands. The organic overburden and slash piles from the mechanized land clearing for the gravel pit operation area would be stockpiled along the north and west end of the proposed project area on the cleared/filled work pad. Each of the temporary stockpiles, the overburden stockpile, and excavated gravel pile, would individually encompass approximately 0.30 acres in size of the work pad area. A total of 21.0 acres of wetlands would be cleared and/or filled if the proposed project is authorized. A 100 foot vegetated buffer would remain between the project area and the Richardson Highway.

13 Jul 2016

POA-2016-120, Keete Inlet

Expiration date: 8/12/2016

Sealaska Timber Corporation's stated purpose is to complete intended commercial timber harvest on corporate-owned private lands. Placement of a drive-down ramp between the High Tide Line (HTL) and a minus 4-foot tide for transferring log bundles from uplands to the waters of Keete Inlet. A 70-foot by 5-foot wooden ramp from the drive-down ramp to a 30-foot by 30-foot service float secured by four 1-ton concrete anchors. Placement of log standing booms in the water secured by concrete anchors and wire rope shore-ties in three different locations. One area is for building log rafts as the log bundles are placed into the water at the log transfer facility (LTF). The other two areas are designated for storage of commercial log rafts. To provide efficient access to and from the uplands from Keete Inlet, a log float and walkway are to be installed as well. The proposed project requires up to 0.18-acre of intertidal fill. Up to 1000 cubic yards of shot rock would be placed into 0.15-acre for construction of the drive-down ramp, and up to 165 cubic yards of fill would be placed into 0.03-acre for construction of the walkway bulkhead. Additionally, up to 240 cubic yards of rip rap would be placed adjacent to the shot rock ramp. All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan (sheets 1-8), dated July 1st, 2016. Please contact Matt Beattie at (907) 753-2791, toll free from within Alaska at (800) 478-2712, by fax at (907) 753-5567, or by email at Matthew.L.Beattie@usace.army.mil if further information is desired concerning this notice.

13 Jul 2016

POA-2016-43, Dietrich River

Expiration date: 8/11/2016

PURPOSE: The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' stated purpose is to reconstruct the Dalton Highway between Milepost 209 and 222, and develop two material sites at MP 224 and MP 210 by widening, resurfacing, raising grade, brush cutting, and repairing drainage along the roadway. Because of the consistent and relatively high-volume, heavy truck traffic and the effects of permafrost on the highway, roadway surface and drainage improvements are needed to continue to provide ground transportation to the North Slope. This project is also needed to relocate a portion of the Dalton Highway away from a frozen debris lobe located near Milepost 218.5. A slow-moving landslide occurring on a permafrost-affected slope and made of soil, rock, trees, and ice is about 136 feet away from the highway and is moving toward the road at a rate of about 0.48 inches per day. At this rate, it could reach the highway in 9 years. Moving a portion of the road away from the frozen lobe would protect the road for at least 20 years. PROPOSED WORK: The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' proposes 91,500 cubic yards of fill material that would permanently impact 25 acres of wetlands and waters of the United States, and 32.5 acres of temporary wetland fill during reconstruction of the Dalton Highway between MP 209 and 222. Approximately 3 acres of permanent wetland impacts and 2.5 acres of temporary wetland impacts would occur at the material site and access road at MP 210. All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan (sheets 1-12), dated FEBRUARY 2016. The complete set of project plans, a Detailed Project Description and Mitigation Plan can be found on our website along with this Public Notice.

12 Jul 2016

POA-2015-472, Taiya Inlet

Expiration date: 8/11/2016

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' stated purpose is to provide an adequate and secure berthing facility for the Alaska Marine Highway System ferries.The applicant requests authorization for the following work in and over navigable waters of the United States: • Dredge 8,000 cubic yards of marine sediment from 0.58 acres below the mean high water mark (approximate elevation +15.8 feet above the 0.0 foot contour) (MHW) under the ferry terminal float to re-establish the basin elevation at -22 feet mean lower low water; • Discharge 680 cubic yards of riprap fill material into 0.15 acres below the HTL and MHW to stabilize the dredged slope and repair the existing slope; • Install below the MHW four temporary 30-inch diameter steel piles to support the vehicle and pedestrian transfer bridges during dredging; Replace below the MHW the ferry terminal float anchors (concrete anchors and H- or hollow steel stake pile anchors) and anchor chains in-kind; existing concrete anchors would be removed or left buried in place. 19 new anchor stake piles (16-inch diameter pipes) would be driven from the surface, then cut off a few feet from the mud line; • Replace over the MHW the on-float fender system and rehabilitate and refurbish the existing concrete float deck surfaces, the seal compartments, and the vehicle and pedestrian transfer bridges. All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan (sheets 1-9), dated 06/09/16. Please contact Randal Vigil at (907) 790-4491, or by email at Randal.P.Vigil@usace.army.mil if further information is desired concerning this notice.

12 Jul 2016

POA-2014-288-M1, Cook Inlet

Expiration date: 7/26/2016

BlueCrest Alaska Operating LLC's stated purpose is to conduct a two-well offshore exploratory drilling program within ADL 384403. The applicant proposes to conduct exploratory drilling at two new well locations utilizing the Spartan 151 jack-up rig. The new well locations would be within 100 feet of these coordinates: (Well A2) Latitude 59.886906º N., Longitude 151.882778º W.; and (Well A6) Latitude 59.886914º N., Longitude 151.882781º W. Drilling is proposed to begin in summer of 2017 and would take 40 days per well to complete. If delays occur, drilling may occur in 2018. Drilling would occur in the open water season, generally between April and November. In addition to the proposed drilling, other activities that would require a DA authorization include drive pipe hammering, which is the process by which a drive pipe is driven into the sediment prior to the drilling of the oil well. The drive pipe prevents loose substrate from collapsing on to and obstructing the well bore. The proposed drive pile would be 30 inches in diameter, and would be installed to 200 feet below the mudline using an impact hammer. Driving of the drive pile would take 1 to 3 days at each well site. Please contact Katherine A. McCafferty at (907) 753-2692, by fax at (907) 420-0813, or by email at Katherine.a.mccafferty2@usace.army.mil if further information is desired concerning this notice.