N19 SHANNON AIRPORT ACCESS ROAD IMPROVEMENT SCHEME APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT SCREENING REPORT FOR GROUND INVESTIGATION February 2021 Rev 03 CLIENT: Clare County Council PROJECT NAME: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Scheme DOCUMENT NAME Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation REVISION CONTROL SHEET Client: Clare County Council Project Name: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Improvement Scheme Report Title: Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation Report No.: N19SAAR-MP-AL-0011-P03 TII Project Ref: CL/17/16362 Project Phase: Phase 2 Issued for: Approval Revision: 03 Rev. No. Description of Changes Prepared by: Checked by: Approved by: Date: 0 Issue for Client Review Donna O’Halloran EB BDH 19.03.2020 1 Issue for Client Review Donna O’Halloran EB BDH 10.12.2020 2 Issue for Approval Donna O’Halloran EB BDH 07.01.2021 3 Issue for Approval Rita Mansfield GF BDH 19.02.2021 Report Distribution: Copy No. 1: Sean Lenihan, Senior Engineer, Clare County Council Copy No. 2: Sheila Downes, Environmental Assessment Officer, Clare County Council Copy No.3 : Seamus Linehan, Senior Executive Engineer,Mid-WestNational Road Design Office P2057 CLIENT: Clare County Council PROJECT NAME: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Scheme DOCUMENT NAME Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. I 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Legislative Requirements .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Regulatory Context .................................................................................................................................. 3 2 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Appropriate Assessment ..................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Impact Assessment .................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2 Desktop Study ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Field Study ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 3 PROPOSED WORKS ........................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Ground Investigation Works ............................................................................................................................... 8 3.1.1 Cable Percussive and Rotary Core Boreholes .......................................................................................... 9 3.1.2 Groundwater Installation ......................................................................................................................... 9 3.1.3 Trial Pits .................................................................................................................................................. 10 3.1.4 Slit Trenches ........................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.5 Cone Penetration Testing....................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.6 Dynamic Probes ..................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.7 Soakaway tests ....................................................................................................................................... 11 3.2 Laboratory Testing ............................................................................................................................................ 12 3.2.1 Soil testing .............................................................................................................................................. 12 3.2.2 Groundwater testing .............................................................................................................................. 12 3.3 Temporary site Compound and Welfare Facilities ............................................................................................ 14 3.4 Further Details ................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.4.1 Artesian Water ....................................................................................................................................... 14 3.4.2 Contaminated Water: ............................................................................................................................ 14 3.4.3 Storage of Fuels or Lubricants:............................................................................................................... 14 3.4.4 Timing .................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.4.5 Safety ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 3.4.6 Traffic Management............................................................................................................................... 15 3.4.7 Machinery .............................................................................................................................................. 15 3.4.8 Wastes ................................................................................................................................................... 15 4 STAGE ONE – SCREENING REPORT ................................................................................................. 17 P2057 i / iii CLIENT: Clare County Council PROJECT NAME: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Scheme DOCUMENT NAME Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation 4.1 Brief Description of the Existing Site ................................................................................................................. 17 4.2 Brief Description of the European Sites within 15km of the area of Proposed Works ..................................... 19 4.3 Conservation Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Potential Cumulative Impacts ........................................................................................................................... 39 4.5 Screening Assessment Criteria .......................................................................................................................... 40 4.6 Screening Matrix ............................................................................................................................................... 41 4.7 Stage One Screening Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 49 5 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 50 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 1: Finding of No Significant Effects Report Appendix 2: Drawings Appendix 3: European Site Synopses P2057 ii / iii CLIENT: Clare County Council PROJECT NAME: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Scheme DOCUMENT NAME Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1: Site Location ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 2: European Sites within 15 km of Ground Investigation Works .......................................................................... 36 LIST OF TABLES Table 3-1: Groundwater Sampling .......................................................................................................................... 13 Table 4-1: Hydrological links Between the proposed ground investigation works and the Shannon Estuary ....... 18 Table 4-2: European Sites Screened Out ................................................................................................................ 23 LIST OF PLATES Plate 3-1: Indicative Groundwater Monitoring Instrumentation at Boreholes Locations ..................................... 10 P2057 iii / iii CLIENT: Clare County Council PROJECT NAME: N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Scheme DOCUMENT NAME Appropriate Assessment Screening Report for Ground Investigation 1 INTRODUCTION Fehily Timoney and Company (FT) were commissioned by Clare County Council to prepare an Appropriate Assessment Screening Report, as required by Article 6 of Council Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitats Directive) with regards to a proposed ground investigation works within and along the margins of the N19 National Road; extending from Drumgeely Roundabout