Notice of Application for State Water Quality Certification

Public Notice (PN) Date: October 21, 2024                                        
PN Expiration Date: November 5, 2024      
PN Reference Number: POA-2024-00425 v1.0                                                                          
Waterway: Womens Bay

Any applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that might result in a discharge into waters of the United States, in accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), must also apply for and obtain certification from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that the discharge will comply with the CWA and the Alaska Water Quality Standards (18 AAC 70). The scope of certification is limited to the water quality-related impacts from the activity subject to the Federal license or permit (40 CFR 121.3, 18 AAC 15.180).

Notice is hereby given that a request for a CWA §401 Water Quality Certification of a Department of the Army Permit application, Corps of Engineers’ PN Reference Number indicated above has been received[1] for the discharge of dredged and/or fill materials into waters of the United States (WOTUS), including wetlands, as described below, and shown on the project figures/drawings. The public notice and related project figures/drawings are accessible from the DEC website at https://dec.alaska.gov/water/wastewater/.

To comment on the project or request for a public hearing with respect to water quality, submit comments via email to the DEC email address: DEC-401Cert@alaska.gov with the subject line referencing Public Notice Reference Number: POA-2024-00425 v1.0 or via DEC website https://dec.alaska.gov/commish/public-notices/ on or before the public notice expiration date listed above.

Applicant: United States Coast Guard, Neal Armstrong, U.S. Coast Guard Facilities Design and Construction Center,5505 Robin Hood Road, Suite K, Norfolk, VA 23513, 571-608-9243; joseph.a.mckenna@uscg.mil

Agent: Weston Solutions, Stacey Korsmo, 101 W Benson BlvdSuite 312,  Anchorage, AK 99503; 907-301-5815; stacey.aughe@westonsolutions.com.

Project Name: U.S. Coast Guard Base Kodiak – Kodiak Base Cargo Wharf Improvements

Dates of the proposed activity is planned to begin and end: 11/01/2024 to 12/31/2026

Location: The proposed activity is located within Section 22, T. 28S, R. 20W, Seward Meridian, in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska. KIB Parcel 20543. Project Site (Latitude, Longitude): 57.730684, -152.51311.

Purpose: The purpose of the Proposed Action is to commission and homeport two Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) and two Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs) and to provide adequate shoreside and mooring facilities. The shoreside facilities and mooring infrastructure would be capable of supporting an additional FRC (proposed to be homeported in Seward, AK after temporary homeporting at Base Kodiak) during periods of major maintenance. Permanent fill would be placed to build the replacement approach bulkhead and stabilize the shoreline by reducing or eliminating liquefaction and slope instability during major seismic events.

Description of Proposed Work: The applicant proposes to discharge 20,200 cubic yards of concrete, type C fill, and porous rock into 0.20 acres below the High Tide Line (HTL, 11.5 feet above the 0.0-foot contour) of Womens Bay to construct new and upgraded waterfront shoreside and mooring facilities. The applicant also proposes the placement of 1,413 piles below the Mean High-Water Mark (MHWM, 7.87 feet above the 0.0-foot contour) of Womens Bay. The southern end of Berth 3 would be extended by 100 linear feet (4,000 square feet). Berth 2 would be demolished and replaced with a 360-foot long by 30- to 60-foot wide cargo wharf. The southern access trestle would be demolished and replaced with a 80-foot wide by 135-foot long solid-fill approach bulkhead. Demolition activities would remove approximately 18,530 square feet of reinforced concrete and asphalt, up to 363 wooden and steel piles, and all existing utilities on the Cargo Wharf.

The approximately 30- to 60-foot by 360-foot Berth 2 wharf replacement would be constructed using reinforced concrete, precast deck panels, and transition plates that are appropriate for heavy lifting activities. Up to one hundred seventeen (117) 12-inch steel bearing piles, thirty (30) 14-inch steel brace piles, seventy-seven (77) 14-inch timber fender piles, and threehundred sixty (360) linear feet of camel log would be removed at Berth 2. New construction at Berth 2 would involve the installation of sixty (60) new 42-inch bearing piles, thirty-five (35) new 24-square-inch precast fender piles, and eight (8) 8-foot by 3-foot-diameter floating foam fenders.

Up to eighty-one (81) 14-inch timber fender piles—some with rub rails attached to them— would be removed from the shoreside area of Berth 3. Approximately 475 linear feet of 24-inch camel log would be removed along with one 24-inch steel southwest corner fender pile. Additionally, three 24-inch steel corner fender piles be removed from the southeasternmost area. The 100-foot-long extension of Berth 3 would require installation of twenty (20) new 24- inch fender piles, 100 linear feet of 24-inch camel log, and twenty-four (24) new 42-inch steel bearing piles. Additionally, three 30-inch steel corner protection piles would be installed.

At the new north floating dock to be located on the shoreward side of Berth 3, ten (10) 30-inch steel guide piles and one (1) 200-foot by 25-foot floating dock would be installed below MHW. For the new south floating dock to be located off the terminal end of extended Berth 3, construction would entail installing eight (8) new 36-inch steel piles and one (1) 200-foot by 25- foot floating dock below MHW. Ten (10) 30-inch steel guide piles and two (2) 24-inch, 140- linear feet floating camel logs would be installed at new Berth 6, located on the shoreward side of Berth 3 and north of new Berth 4, below MHW.

To replace the existing south access trestle with a new approach bulkhead, up to thirty (30) 12- inch steel bearing piles would be removed, along with associated anodes and steel cross bracing. New construction at the approach bulkhead would include installation of eighty (80) new 42-inch diameter steel pipe piles below the HTL to construct a 10,650-cubic-foot (80 feet wide by 135 feet long) pipe-pile-walled bulkhead. Approximately 2,700 cubic yards of Type C fill would then be placed within the bulkhead walls below the original HTL. Then, approximately 4,800 cubic yards of porous rock would be installed to form stone columns within the placed fill, extending deep below the HTL using vibroflot and replacement method.

The guide piles anchoring the existing small 150-feet long craft floats on the nearshore side of Berth 2 would be replaced. Removal of up to twenty-four (24) 24-inch timber guide piles and the small craft floats would occur prior to the installation of twenty-two (22) new 24-inch steel guide and fender piles below the MHW. Following the new pile installation, the refurbished or replacement small craft floats would be re-installed.

Vibro-flotation and replacement, similar to what would be completed within the approach bulkhead described above, would be conducted in an estimated 145-foot by 55-foot area under the Berth 2 wharf replacement, in an approximately 84-foot by 30-foot area east of the southern approach bulkhead, and in a 28-foot by 122-foot area on the shoreside of the bulkhead to reduce or eliminate liquefaction and slope instability during seismic events. An approximately 30-inch-diameter vibroflot (vibrating probe) would be vibrated vertically into the subsurface sediment. The resulting hole would then be backfilled with gravel as the vibroflot is removed to create stone columns in the ocean floor. This process would be repeated within a grid to place 623 stone columns about 2.5 feet apart.

Demolition is anticipated to occur between November 2024 and February 2025 and would utilize land- and water-based equipment including barges, small boats, dozers, backhoes, ladders, cranes, concrete/asphalt saws, small tools, and hauling trucks. A temporary upland staging area would be used to house demolition materials prior to placing them into dump trucks for transportation to an approved disposal facility. Removed timber and creosote-treated piles would be handled and disposed of following BMPs and per agency requirements.

Construction is anticipated to begin in March 2025 and could continue through December 2026.

Applicant Proposed Mitigation: The applicant proposes the following mitigation measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to waters of the United States from activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material.

1. Avoidance: Other construction materials were explored for the southern access approach, but the geotechnical analysis found that the proposed method, which involves placing fill, will provide the highest level of protection against liquefaction and slope instability during a seismic event.
2. Minimization: The applicant states that the proposed area of fill is the minimum required to provide adequate protection. The existing footprint proposed to be filled is a rocky shoreline that does not contain protected habitats such as eelgrass beds or marsh. The applicant also proposes the following activity-specific minimization measures:

   For in-water work:

• Care will be taken to minimize debris from entering water during pile extraction and installation, and debris will be removed promptly if it does enter the water. Materials and construction methods shall be used that avoid or minimize introduction of toxic materials, petrochemicals, and other pollutants from entering surface water during and after construction. Appropriate equipment and material for hazardous material cleanup must be kept at the site.
• Absorbent materials would be employed if petrochemical sheen is observed. Materials would remain in place until all pollutants have been collected to the extent feasible and sheens dissipate. Used absorbent materials would be stored in an appropriate upland facility until transported to a permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facility. The Contractor would be required notify all required regulatory agencies and comply with reporting requirements.
• All disposed materials shall be deposited in a landfill that meets liner and leachate standards of ADEC, 18 Alaska Administrative Code 60, Solid Waste Management.

  For Pile Removal and Installation:

• All treated wood will be handled in compliance with the Western Wood Preservers Institute’s Specifiers Guide to Best Management Practices for the Use of Preserved Wood in Aquatic and Sensitive Environments (WWPI and others, 2018).
• The Contractor would provide a pile extraction and installation plan that maximizes removal and installation of piles in the dry, at lowest practical tide condition, and at slack water, in that order, to the extent practicable.
• All in-water work along the shoreline would be conducted during low tide, when the site is dewatered to the maximum extent practicable.
  1. Mitigation: No mitigation measures are proposed at this time.

After reviewing the application, the Department will evaluate whether the activity will comply with applicable water quality requirements (any limitation, standard, or other requirement under sections 301, 302, 306, and 307 of the CWA, any Federal and state laws or regulations implementing those sections, and any other water quality-related requirement of state law). The Department may certify (or certify with conditions) with reasonable assurance the activity and any discharge that might result will comply with water quality requirements. The Department also may deny or waive certification.

The permit application and associated documents are available for review. For inquires or to request copies of the documents, contact dec-401cert@alaska.gov, or call 907-269-6285.

Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice