ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has prepared a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed construction of the Pendleton County Public Service District (PSD), Sandy Ridge Water Line Extension Project, Pendleton County, West Virginia. USACE, Baltimore District is cost sharing the proposed project with the Pendleton County PSD, the non-federal sponsor. The proposed project involves removing and replacing existing waterlines that are currently located within existing rights-of-way (ROWs) and previously disturbed areas. The project also proposes design and construction of a water line extension project along County Route 2/2 (Sandy Ridge Road) southwest from its intersection with County Route 23 (Thorn Creek Road) to the community of Moatstown, West Virginia, due south of Franklin, West Virginia, to just east of the Moatstown community in Sugar Grove, West Virginia.
The purpose of the proposed project would be to provide safe drinking water to the communities of Sandy Ridge (mainly the residents along Sandy Ridge Road) and the community of Moatstown. Currently, the residents of this area rely on private wells and cisterns for drinking water. The need for this project is to upgrade existing water lines and install new water lines to customers along areas of Sandy Ridge and Moatstown, as well as the surrounding areas. This draft EA and draft FONSI have been prepared by USACE, Baltimore District and Cerrone Associates on behalf of the Pendleton County PSD, pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations parts 1500-1508, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing Regulation Revisions, dated 20 April 2022, and USACE Engineering Regulation 200-2-2, Procedures for Implementing NEPA. This draft EA evaluates the potential environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic impacts from construction and general operation of the proposed project.
The proposed project is being conducted under the Northern West Virginia Environmental Infrastructure and Resource Protection and Development Program, which was authorized by Section 571 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1999 (PL 106-53), as amended, by Section 5155 of WRDA 2007 (PL 110-114), Section 352(b)(13) of WRDA 2020 (PL 116-260) and Section 8373 (PL 117-263) of WRDA 2022. The primary objective of the Section 571 Program is to provide design and construction assistance to non-Federal interests carrying out water-related environmental infrastructure and resource protection and development projects in counties within northern West Virginia.
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, USACE, Baltimore District prepared a draft EA that evaluated potential effects on the human environment. All applicable environmental laws have been considered. The following mitigation measures will be implemented during construction: (1) Best management practices will be implemented to minimize the amount of sediment that may be carried into waterways during construction, (2) To minimize adverse effects to roosting Indiana bats, construction will only occur between 15 November and 31 March. No other adverse effects are anticipated to occur to threatened or endangered species or their critical habitat. No impacts to cultural resources or National Register of Historic Places properties are expected. West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office concluded that the project would result in a “no adverse effect” to architectural or archeological resources. Tribal consultation has also been completed and tribal interests will not be affected by this undertaking.
USACE, Baltimore District requests comments regarding the draft EA and FONSI within 30 days of the date of this notice. The draft EA and FONSI are available at the USACE website:
https://www.nab.usace.army.mil/571Program/
Comments can also be mailed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Attn: Chris Johnson, Planning Division, 10th Floor, 2 Hopkins Plaza, Baltimore, MD 21201. If you have any questions, please
contact Chris Johnson by email at the address above.