Wetland Jurisdictional Determination Report
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Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 17 Page 1 of 38 WETLAND DELINEATION REPORT Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady, New York, Washington, and Westchester Counties, New York Prepared for: Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. Toronto, Ontario Prepared by: TRC ENVIRONMENTAL CORPORATION Wannalancit Mills 650 Suffolk St Lowell, MA 01854 March 2010 Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 17 Page 2 of 38 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................1 2.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................1 3.0 WETLAND DELINEATION METHODOLOGY .........................................................2 4.0 WETLAND DELINEATION RESULTS ........................................................................4 4.1 Vegetation..............................................................................................................17 4.2 Hydrology ..............................................................................................................19 4.3 Soils........................................................................................................................20 4.4 Natural Resource Conservation Service Soil Series Descriptions.........................20 5.0 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................32 TABLES Table 4-1 Summary of Wetlands Within the Study Area ........................................................5 Table 4-2 Summary of Waterbodies within the Study Area ....................................................9 Table 4-3 Soil Description Summary.....................................................................................14 FIGURES Figure A-1 Wetland Delineation Mapping……………………………………… Attachment A Figure A-2 NRCS Soil Mapping…………………………………………………Attachment A ATTACHMENTS A – Figures B – Wetland and Stream Photographs i Wetland Delineation Report Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 17 Page 3 of 38 1.0 INTRODUCTION TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) has prepared this wetland delineation report on behalf of Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. (CHPEI) for the Champlain Hudson Power Express Project (Project). The Project is designed to connect renewable sources of power generation in central and eastern Canada and upstate New York to load centers in and around the New York City and southwestern Connecticut regions. The Project will include underwater and underground high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission cables connecting an HVDC converter station in Canada with HVDC converter stations in Yonkers, New York, and Bridgeport, Connecticut. To the extent possible, CHPEI proposes to install the transmission cables along existing waterways to minimize underground transportation routes. CHPEI believes that this innovative approach will minimize the visual and landscape impacts associated with traditional overhead transmission lines, while simultaneously providing the additional capacity required to meet the increasing clean energy demands of the greater New York City metropolitan area and State of Connecticut. TRC and HDR|DTA Engineering Inc. (HDR|DTA) were retained by CHPEI to identify and delineate jurisdictional wetlands and waterways along the underground railroad rights-of-way (ROWs) bypasses to support the design and layout of the proposed facilities, with the objective of minimizing impacts to federal and state jurisdictional wetlands to the extent feasible. This report describes the wetland delineation methodology and the wetland and waterbody resources that were identified in the study area during field surveys for underground portions of the Project. 2.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW CHPEI proposes to install the transmission cables along existing waterways to the extent possible. From Canada, the proposed transmission cable route enters Lake Champlain and travels south to the northern entrance to the Champlain Canal, near Whitehall, New York. From the Champlain Canal, the Project route has incorporated underground bypasses along existing railroad ROWs, where possible, to avoid lock areas where construction is infeasible and to avoid activities associated with the Upper Hudson River Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Dredging Project. The cables will enter the Hudson River in the Town of Coeymans, downstream from the City of Albany. South of the Coeymans, the proposed alignment follows the Hudson River to the New York City metropolitan area. Three underground bypasses are proposed to circumvent Locks C12, C11, and C9 along the Champlain Canal. The bypass sections for Locks C12 and C11 will extend for a combined total of approximately 2.1 miles along an existing Canadian Pacific (CP) railroad ROW. CHPEI will also use 0.5 mile-long underground route to bypass Lock C9 along the east side of the canal, which is not located along existing railroad ROW but within land owned by the New York State Canal Corporation (Canal Corp). An underground route is also proposed to avoid the Upper Hudson River PCB Dredging Project. The cables will exit the Champlain Canal near Lock C8 in Kingsbury (Washington County), 1 Wetland Delineation Report Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 17 Page 4 of 38 north of the Champlain Canal/Hudson River confluence. The cables will be buried within the CP railroad ROW through Saratoga County to Rotterdam, in Schenectady County. At this point, the transmission cable route will follow the CSX Corporation (CSX) railroad ROW until the cables enter the Hudson River in the Town of Coeymans. The total distance of this underground route is approximately 69.9 miles. The remaining underground portions of the Project in New York State are associated with the new proposed Yonkers converter station, in Westchester County, and the cable connection to the existing Sherman Creek substation in New York County. These connections will be made via horizontal directional drill (HDD) so ground disturbance is not anticipated. A total of two bipoles (four cables) will be laid between Quebec and the converter stations in New York City, where two cables will be terminated. The remaining two cables will continue to Bridgeport, Connecticut. For the underground portions of the Project route within existing railroad ROWs, the typical and preferred layout is to have one bipole (2 cables) installed on either side of the railroad tracks. A minimum separation distance is required from the rails to the cables by each railroad; CP requires a minimum separation of 10 feet from the centerline of the outermost track to the cable trench and CSX requires a minimum separation of 25 feet from the centerline of the outermost track. With this layout, the limits of construction activity extend 15 feet beyond the required minimum setback of the railroads. Some areas may require different configuration for specific engineering challenges, such as steep slopes, environmentally sensitive areas and existing structures. For the underground portions of the Project route, the underground cables will be buried via excavated trenches or HDD methods. 3.0 WETLAND DELINEATION METHODOLOGY To determine the potential for wetland impacts from construction of the Project, TRC and HDR|DTA assessed the Project survey area in the field for the presence of federal and state jurisdictional wetlands. Wetland scientists from TRC and HDR|DTA conducted wetland delineations from October to December 2009. The delineations were performed in accordance with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) wetland delineation criteria and methodology and the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Delineation Manual (Browne et. al., 1995). TRC and HDR|DTA conducted wetland delineations along the underground routes on the existing CP railroad ROW. The area surveyed included approximately 9.5 miles from Whitehall to Fort Ann in Washington County, and approximately 46.2 miles from Fort Edward in Washington County to Rotterdam in Schenectady County. The survey area includes the towns of Whitehall, Fort Ann, and Fort Edward in Washington County; Moreau, Northumberland, Wilton, Saratoga Springs, Milton, and Ballston in Saratoga County; and Glenville, Schenectady, and Rotterdam in Schenectady County. TRC also surveyed the Yonkers converter station site on September 2, 2009, and no wetlands were observed at the site. The study area for the surveyed portions of the Project included the land within the existing CP railroad ROW. To determine the appropriate parcel boundary, TRC reviewed parcel data from 2 Wetland Delineation Report Champlain Hudson Power Express Project Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 17 Page 5 of 38 the assessors’ offices (where available) and the valuation maps provided by CP railroad, consulted with the railroad personnel and used visual cues such as existing fences, field edges, treelines, or other indications of vegetation management by the railroad. At the Yonkers converter station, TRC surveyed the entire site within the property boundary and the cable landfall area. The remaining onland portions of the proposed Project, which includes the Lock C9 bypass in Washington County, the CSX railroad ROW from Rotterdam in Schenectady County to the Hudson River in the Town of Coeymans in Albany County, and the cable connection to the Sherman Creek substation in New York County, will be surveyed in the spring of 2010. Information on