United States Department of the Interior Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxx
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United States Department of the Interior FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Mountain-Prairie Region IN REPLY R EFER TO: FWS/R6/Cuitural Resources MAILING ADDRESS: STREET LOCATION: Mail Stop 60130 Post Office Box 25486 134 Union Boulevard Denver Federal Center Lakewood, Colorado 80228-1807 Denver, Colorado 80225-0486 xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx Dear XXXXXXXX: Dakota Access, LEG., (Applicant) proposes to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline (Project), an approximate 1,168-mile crude oil pipeline extending from the Bakken and Three Forks production areas of North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa,terminating and near Patoka, Illinois. The Applicant is seeking a Special Use Permit (SUP) to cross five U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) wetland easements and one grassland easement in North Dakota and 109 wetland and three grassland easements in South Dakota. The easements are on private lands and afford the Service jurisdiction limited to wildlife habitat protection. No Service easements will be crossed in the Iowa or Illinois portions of the Project. The total length of the proposed route through Service easements is about 4.7 miles, amounting to about 0.4% of the Project’s total length and about 71.7 acres or less than 0.6% of the total Project footprint in North Dakota and South Dakota. The Applicant conducted intensive surveys for cultural resources in 2014 and 2015 along the length o f the Project in North and South Dakota, including all of the Service easements. Each easement was examined for the presence of archaeological and historic sites that may qualify for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Survey reports were reviewed by the Service and the North Dakota and South Dakota State Historic Preservation Officers (Gray and Pape, Inc., 2015 and Addendum; Merjent, 2015). In North Dakota, the reports identified three sites (32MN1339, 32MNI340, and 32MN929) within a Service easement near the edge of the workspace boundary. Each site is comprised of stone caims with no associated archaeological materials and was recommended as unevaluated for the NRHP. However, for the Applieant’s planning purposes, the sites were treated as eligible and avoided through final layout o f the route and workspaces. To further protect these sites, exclusionary fencing will be installed along the border of the workspace in their immediate vicinity to prevent inadvertent encroachment during the construction phase of the Project. These specific locales will also be monitored by an Environmental Inspector to ensure avoidance is achieved. In South Dakota, three sites were identified on Service easements. These were two railroad grades (39ED2007 and 39KB2003) that would be avoided by boring beneath the grades and one USAGE DAPL0084784 archaeological stone feature site (39CA0282) situated outside the workspace boundary. Site 39CA0282, which may retain traditional cultural and religious importance to tribes and qualify forthe NRHP under criterion A, was recommended for avoidance with exclusionary fencing and monitoring by an Environmental Inspector. The Service initiated consultation with 23 tribes on October 23, 2015. Through subsequent meetings, discussions, and correspondence with tribes, the Service has received no objections specific to proceeding with the Project through portions under Service jurisdiction. Consequently, the Service has determined that the Project will have no adverse effect on historic properties situated in Service jurisdictional areas provided that: 1. Sites 39ED2007 and 39KB2003 will be avoided by boring the pipeline beneath the railroad grades. 2. Site 39CA0282 will be avoided with placement of exclusionary fencing to avoid construction activity encroachment. 3. The workspace footprint avoids sites 32MN1339, 32MN1340, and 32MN929 and exclusionary fencing is erected in their immediate vicinity to prevent encroachment. 4. Construction activities are monitored by an Environmental Inspector to ensure avoidance is achieved. 5. The UnanticipatedDiscoveries Plan: CulturalResources, Human Remains, Paleontological Resources & Contaminated Mediawill be followed. Please contact Meg Van Ness, Regional Historic Preservation Officer, at (303) 236-8103 or [email protected] if you have questions or would like additional information. Sincerely, Regional Director cc: Monica Howard, Dakota Access, EEC USAGE DAPL0084785 References Cited Gray and Pape, Inc., 2015 Level III Intensive Cultural Resources Survey for Dakota Access Pipeline Project, Grassland and Wetland Easement Crossings in Campbell, McPherson, Edmunds, Faulk, Spink, Beadle, Kingsbury, Miner, Lake, McCook, Minnehaha, Turner and Lincoln Counties, Gray South Dakota, and Pape, Inc., May 6, 2015. Addendum I: Level III Intensive Cultural Resources Survey for Dakota Access Pipeline Project, Grassland and Wetland Easement Crossings in Campbell, McPherson, Edmunds, Faulk, Spink, Beadle, Kingsbury, Miner, Lake, McCook, Minnehaha, Turner and Lincoln Counties, South Dakota, Gray and Pape, Inc., May 26, 2015. Merjent, Inc., 2015 Dakota Access Class II/III Cultural Resource Inventory o f the Crossings o f the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Easements, North Dakota, Merjent, Inc., May 2015 USAGE DAPL0084786.