The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District (USACE) is proposing to remediate a deteriorating crib wall above the spillway at the Whitney Point Lake Project located on the Otselic River in Broome County, New York. The crib wall is a 1600-foot long by 4 to 10-foot high wall made of precast reinforced concrete “bin” members (i.e. header and whaler members) and pervious backfill that retains an engineered backfill slope. USACE is preparing an environmental assessment (EA) per the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, to assess the impact of the crib wall remediation to the human and natural environment. Four potential remedial measures including no action, repair/replacement in-kind, a structural alternative, and an earth fill/buttress (buttress) alternative will be assessed. Based on preliminary evaluations, the buttress alternative appears likely to best meet the project purpose and need. This alternative involves construction of an approximately 1600 linear-foot buttress in front of the crib wall, where a gravel maintenance road currently exists, and relocation of the maintenance road above the crib wall. The preliminary project design calls for use of earth fill excavated from an adjacent borrow area for the project construction.
All proposed activities occur on USACE-managed lands for the purpose of maintaining the slope above the spillway. The Flood Control act of 1936, as amended by the Flood Control Act of June 28, 1938, authorized construction of Whitney Point Lake by USACE for the purposes of flood risk management, recreation, and environmental stewardship.
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public of the initiation of the preparation of an EA for the Crib Wall Remediation Project. USACE expects to circulate a draft EA for public review and comment in Winter 2020-2021. We ask that federal and state agencies provide information concerning interests within your organization’s area of responsibility or expertise, and the public provide information that may be pertinent to this assessment.
Please review the enclosed figure and provide any written comments electronically to Megan Spindler at megan.l.spindler@usace.army.mil or by mail to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: Megan Spindler, Planning Division, 10th Floor, 2 Hopkins Plaza, Baltimore, MD 21201 within 30 days of the date of this notice. If you have any questions, please contact Megan Spindler by email at the address above.