News Release
| Release Number: | 03-186 |
| Dated: | 10/28/2003 |
| Contact: | Public Affairs Office, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore.-The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating a permit application from Georgia Pacific Corp. to construct a floating wharf to moor a log barge in Coos Bay, Ore.
The proposed project would include constructing a steel, flat-bottomed wharf, 114 feet long and 78 feet wide. The wharf would berth ocean-going log barges up to 400 feet long and 100 feet wide. The width of the wharf and barge combined would be 180 feet and would extend a maximum of 50 feet into a navigation channel.
The project also would require installing four mooring dolphins, each consisting of four 12-inch-diameter steel pilings. The dolphins would be located outside the navigation channel.
If a permit is issued, the Corps will decide on the appropriate and practicable compensatory mitigation based on the anticipated impacts of the project.
The proposed project would facilitate the dry landing of about 1.5 million board feet of logs per month.
As part of its permit evaluation process, the Corps is requesting public review and comment on the proposed project prior to making its permit decision.
For a copy of the Corps' Public Notice 2003-00472, which describes the proposed project in detail, please write to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ATTN: CENWP-OP-GE (Lisa Grudzinski), 2201 North Broadway, Suite C, North Bend, OR, 97459 or call (541) 756-5316. A copy of the public notice, including photocopies of supporting drawings, is posted on the Corps' Internet site at https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/notices/200300472.pdf.
Written comments must reach the Corps by Nov. 21 and should be mailed to the above address. Send e-mail comments to Lisa.A.Grudzinski@usace.army.mil. Comments must reference the public notice number.
The Corps also is soliciting input from federal, state and local agencies and officials, Indian Tribes, and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the impacts of this proposed activity on endangered species, cultural resources, water quality, general environmental effects, and other public interest factors.
The Corps will evaluate the permit request under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 for work in or affecting navigable waters of the United States.
A permit will not be issued until the state has concurred with the applicant's certification that the described activity affecting land or water uses in the Coastal Zone complies with State Coastal Zone Management Program, Section 307 of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972.
Also, because the proposed project may affect an endangered or threatened species or its critical habitat, the Corps will initiate consultation with NOAA Fisheries under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. A permit for the proposed activity will not be issued or denied until the consultation process is complete.
The proposed project is not located on property registered in the latest version of the National Register of Historic Places. This notice has been provided to the State Historic Preservation Office.