Mr. Joseph B. Dale II, with Dale Construction LLC, states the project purpose is to sell sand. Proposed work is to discharge of fill material into 10.5 acres of Palustrine emergent (PEM) wetlands to expand an existing sand pit. This work was done after August 17, 2017, and required authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). These wetlands are adjacent to Brown’s Slough which is considered a water of the U.S. This was an expansion of an historical pit consisting of approximately 24.9 acres of PEM wetlands that were cleared with mechanized equipment prior to 2005. The total existing impacts to waters of the U.S., including wetlands would be 35.4 acres. Additionally, the applicant would now like to further expand the pit by mechanically land clearing which would result in the discharge of material into an additional 4.6 acres of wetlands to bring the total size of the pit to 40 acres (represented by sheet 4 of 5). The expansion would be needed to provide the quantity of specified materials for the upcoming expansion of the Bethel Runway and Lower Kuskokwim School District projects throughout the area. The applicant would continue to excavate 50,000 cubic yards (CY) and potentially up to 150,000 CY of sandy material annually from the pit each year. This proposal would bring the existing sand pit into compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan (sheets 1-5), dated February 22, 2021. The project site is located within Section 11, T. 8 N., R. 72 W., Seward Meridian; USGS Quad Map Bethel D-8; Latitude 60.7946º N., Longitude 161.8674º W.; Chaney Subdivision Name, north of BIA road, in Bethel, Alaska. Please contact Mary Romero at (907) 753-2773, toll free from within Alaska at (800) 478-2712, or by email at Mary.R.Romero@usace.army.mil if further information is desired concerning this notice.
POA-2020-00367, Brown's Slough_PN