April 14, 2010

District Engineer
Regulatory Division
U.S. Army Engineer District, Mobile
P.O. Box 2288
Mobile, AL 36628

RE: Permit Application SAM-2009-00884-JBE, Baldwin County Highway Department, I-10/I-65 Connector

To Whom It May Concern:

We are Mobile Baykeeper, a thirteen year old nonprofit organization with the mission of providing citizens a means to protect the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay watershed. We are writing on behalf our Board, Officers and more than 3,500 members to address the Baldwin County Highway Department’s application to construct an I-65/I-10 Connector. This is a major undertaking that requires very close scrutiny from both the Corps of Engineers and the community at large.

Last fall, when we first learned of the Baldwin County Highway Department’s intent commence a corridor study to select a I-10/I-65 Connector, we were presented with two routes. Alternative 1, which closely parallels Highway 59, proposed eight stream crossings on the dry ridge that underlies the westernmost corridor, with 99 acres of wetlands to be filled. In Alternative 2, the easternmost Baldwin County corridor, at least 24 stream crossings were shown, with an estimated 150 acres of wetlands requiring fill to construct the road. The applicant’s choice, as shown in this public notice, is most similar to Alternative 1, although the cumulative proposed wetland taking have increased to 104.9 acres.

The public notice notes the proposed project would cross five water bodies in Baldwin County: Styx River, Reedy Creek, McCurtin Creek, Hollinger Creek, and a tributary to Dyas Creek. Our review of the planned route with county maps indicates that there are two other water bodies that may be affected, Flat Creek and Horseneck Creek. Impacts to these waterways during construction and from permanent fill of associated wetlands are of great concern to us. One of these, Styx River, is on Alabama’s §303(d) list of impaired waterways. Our review of the plans included in the public notice do not adequately address what plans shall be put in place for stormwater controls during construction of the project nor are there indications of methods of stormwater management along the roadway post construction. Any construction taking place in this area needs a careful and well-defined plan for erosion control and we recommend the Corps require the Baldwin County Commission to provide BMP and erosion control plans as part of their application. A good plan, properly implemented, should circumvent any additional wetland fill necessitating any after-the-fact requests for additional wetland fill. Given the scope and location of the project, pre-construction and post-construction stormwater management plans should be available for public review and comment as part of this public notice.

This portion of Baldwin County is currently relatively rural, and a project of this scope is going to have significant impacts, both as a direct result of the new roadway and indirectly through the acceleration of growth. Economic and physical growth are not inherently negative things, but unplanned development can have lasting and often unforeseen negative impacts on the region’s culture and environment. Included in the review of this project should be a significant and comprehensive review of secondary and cumulative growth resulting from this project and an analysis of the potential impacts from that growth.

Baldwin County’s pledge to mitigate 104.9 acres of wetland impacts through an unspecified wetland mitigation bank is vague and we insist the Corps seek a more complete mitigation plan that includes mitigation within the affected watershed. Mobile Baykeeper maintains that all mitigation for wetland impacts on a given site should be within the nearest vicinity possible, specifically within the 12 digit HUC subwatershed, to wetlands that have been disturbed. Mitigation within the watershed should help lessen impacts to hydrology in the surrounding drainage basin as well as to maintain the integrity of the local ecosystem. This is a substantial amount of wetland area which requires comprehensive studies of the collective environmental impacts of the proposed road project. A thorough analysis of direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of projects like the I-65/I-10 Connector is required pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.

There is no discussion of attempts at wetlands avoidance for this particular route in the public notice. In our review of the documentation, there are several sections of the proposed road where wetland fill could be avoided by extending the lengths of bridges that cross adjacent waterways, at the Styx River, Hollinger Creek, McCurtin Creek, and the Dyas Creek Tributary crossings. Wetlands, such as these, are a valuable resource in reducing the impacts of flooding due to heavy rains or hurricanes by absorbing the water, then slowly releasing it into the associated water bodies. With this project purported as a hurricane evacuation route it would seem appropriate to preserve these wetlands as a resource for reducing the economic impacts of these natural occurrences.

In closing, we feel it is imperative to reiterate that this project warrants a full Environmental Impact Statement. We maintain our stance that any stream or wetlands mitigation for a proposed project should occur within the nearest possible vicinity, preferably the 12 digit HUC subwatershed. We also request the Corps require the addition of the applicant’s erosion & sedimentation control plans to their application, and to make those plans available for public review and comment. Finally, we respectfully request that you open this matter to a public hearing to address the questions we have raised and allow local residents to voice their concerns. Further information provided in a public forum would be greatly beneficial for stakeholders to better understand the full impacts of this project.

Thank you in advance for consideration of these comments. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Casi (kc) Callaway, Executive Directory & Mobile Baykeeper

Donna Jordan, Program Director

cc: Alabama Department of Environmental Management