Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project No. 13123 Final License Application Technical Appendices for Exhibit E, Applicant Prepared Environmental Impact Statement
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PUBLIC Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project No. 13123 Final License Application Technical Appendices for Exhibit E, Applicant Prepared Environmental Impact Statement. Volume 3 of 6 Palm Desert, California Submitted to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Submitted by: Eagle Crest Energy Company Date: June 22, 2009 GEI Project No. 080473 ©2009 Eagle Crest Energy Company 12 Appendix C – Technical Memoranda 12.11 Class III Cultural Resources Inventory Report A CLASS III FIELD INVENTORY for the PROPOSED EAGLE MOUNTAIN PUMPED STORAGE PROJECT, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA Prepared for: Eagle Crest Energy Company 1 El Paseo West Building, Suite 204 74199 El Paseo Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 Prepared by: Jerry Schaefer and Dave Iversen ASM Affiliates, Inc. 2034 Corte del Nogal Carlsbad, California 92011 PN 14011 Keywords: USGS 7.5-minute Corn Springs, Desert Center, East of Victory Pass, and Victory Pass quads; Chuckwalla Valley, Eagle Mountain Mine, Riverside County; Desert Training Center, Camp Desert Center, World War II, Historic Trash Scatters; Class III Field Inventory. May 2009 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page MANAGEMENT SUMMARY .................................................................iii 1. INTRODUCTION..........................................................................1 2. ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT .............................5 NATURAL SETTING .............................................................................. 5 Geomorphology and Geology .................................................................. 6 Vegetation ......................................................................................... 6 Vertebrate Fauna ................................................................................. 7 PALEOENVIRONMENTS ........................................................................ 8 CULTURAL SETTING ............................................................................ 9 History of Research .............................................................................. 9 Cultural Periods and Patterns .................................................................11 Previous Cultural Resources Investigations.................................................29 3. FIELD METHODS ...................................................................... 31 4. FIELD RESULTS........................................................................ 33 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 1 ...........................................................................35 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 2 ...........................................................................39 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 3 ...........................................................................41 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 4 ...........................................................................43 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 5 ...........................................................................44 EAGLE MOUNTAIN 6 ...........................................................................44 ISOLATE 1 ..........................................................................................48 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................. 51 CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION ...............................................................51 DISCUSSION .......................................................................................51 RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................................................................53 REFERENCES.................................................................................... 55 Confidential Site Records and Maps Eagle Mountain Class III Field Survey i Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project vicinity..................................... 2 Figure 1.2 Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project components. .............................. 3 Figure 4.1 Areas surveyed and sites recorded by ASM for the Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project Class III Field Inventory ........Condidential Appendix Figure 4.2 Example of church key opened tin cans prevalent throughout the Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage project alignment. ........................................35 Figure 4.3 Eagle Mountain 1 site map. ..............................................................36 Figure 4.4 Eastern overview of Eagle Mountain 1 Feature 1....................................37 Figure 4.5 Sketch map of Eagle Mountain 1 Feature 1. ..........................................38 Figure 4.6 West end of Eagle Mountain 1 Feature 2 showing “V” rock alignment. ........38 Figure 4.7 Eagle Mountain 1 Feature 4 viewed ....................................................39 Figure 4.8 Eagle Mountain 2 site map. ..............................................................40 Figure 4.9 Western overview of Eagle Mountain 2 Concentration 1, with the archeologist standing in the background at Concentration 2. ......................42 Figure 4.10 Trash dump concentration at Eagle Mountain 3 viewed from the south. ........42 Figure 4.11 Southeastern view of cans clustered around creosote bush at Eagle Mountain 4. .................................................................................43 Figure 4.12 Eagle Mountain 5 site map. ..............................................................45 Figure 4.13 Southern overview of Eagle Mountain 5 Concentration 1. .........................46 Figure 4.14 Example of tobacco tins identified within Eagle Mountain 5 Concentration 2. ...........................................................................46 Figure 4.15 Eagle Mountain 6 site map. ..............................................................47 Figure 4.16 Southern overview of Eagle Mountain 6...............................................48 Figure 4.17 East side of California Highway marker (Isolate 1) with aqua bottle glass in foreground. ..............................................................................49 ii Eagle Mountain Class III Field Survey Management Summary MANAGEMENT SUMMARY Eagle Crest Energy contracted ASM Affiliates, Inc. (ASM) to carry out a Class III field inventory for the proposed Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project in Riverside County, California. The proposed project consists of hydroelectric pumped storage that will provide system peaking capacity and electrical system regulating benefits to Southwestern electric utilities. ASM investigated 200-ft.-wide proposed and withdrawn alternative Transmission Lines and 60-ft.-wide preferred and alternative Water Lines, totaling approximately 33 linear miles, in addition to two proposed Interconnection Collection Substation locations, totaling 50 acres, and four potential Water Supply Well locations, for the Class III field inventory. The project alignment crosses over previously recorded buried portions of the Colorado River Aqueduct (CA-RIV-6726H) and above ground portions of the Eagle Mountain Industrial Railroad. The Colorado River Aqueduct (CA-RIV-6726H) is evaluated as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), while the Eagle Mountain Industrial Railroad is not because of a lack of integrity. Nevertheless, the proposed project is expected to result in no impacts to these resources. As a result of the survey, ASM recorded seven newly identified historic archaeological resources, including six historic sites (Eagle Mountain 1-6) and one historic-period isolate. Historic research and site integrity suggest that most of the newly identified historic sites and the historic isolate are not NRHP-eligible because they post-date World War II, represent road- side trash deposition associated with Desert Center, and have no historical or scientific values. The one significant site, Eagle Mountain 1, is in the withdrawn alternative transmission route and therefore outside the Area of Potential Effects (APE). It represents activity associated with military operations conducted during World War II as part of the Desert Training Center/California-Arizona Maneuver Area (DTC/C-AMA) under the command of General George S. Patton, and potentially related to an evacuation hospital complex servicing troop deployments throughout the training area. No treatment is recommended because it is located outside of the APE. The one isolate is a 1914-1934-era California Highway boundary marker that although not NRHP-eligible is recommended to be avoided. Eagle Mountain Class III Field Survey iii Table of Contents 1. Project Name. A Class III Field Inventory for the Proposed Eagle Mountain Pumped Storage Project. 2. BLM State Permit Number. CA-09-06, issued Nov. 8, 2008 3. Field Authorization Number. 66.24 09-07 4. Dates of Field Survey. March 17-25, 2009 5. Total acreage of lands surveyed at BLM Class III level. 620 Of Item 5 above: A) Acreage of BLM lands surveyed 600 B) Acreage of other lands surveyed (Private, State, 20 Other Federal) 6. Total number of cultural properties in project Area of Potential Effect. 8 Of Item 6 above: A) Total number of cultural properties for which site records were completed (newly recorded cultural 7 properties). B) Number of new cultural properties on BLM lands 7 C) Number of new cultural properties on other lands 0 (Private, State, Other Federal) 7. Of the cultural properties located within the Area of Potential Effect: A) Number of cultural properties that you are 0 recommending as eligible for the National Register. B) Number of cultural properties you are a recommending as not eligible for the National 6 Register. Of Item 7A above: a) Number of cultural properties that can/will