August 8, 2023 Update-River Sand, Inc.
MEETING 8/8 - USACE, DEQ, NC WILDLIFE
Met with USACE (head of Wilmington and our project); DEQ (lead person and new person); and NC Wildlife Resources Commission
NC Wildlife is very concerned about wetlands and place a high value on them
We discussed Phase I and as expected I think this is going to be permitted
While I had all of them there we discussed all the options for future Phases
They do consider almost everything wetlands that has vegetation regardless of if it was in the lake boundary (i.e. the island by the bridge; "Fringe Wetlands" along the shoreline in the cove = plants growing by the water's edge) - proving that it was lake might be a factor in the next Phase permitting process
1/10th acre is a threshold for permitting (less than that = simple; more = more complicated permitting); so this has always been my plan for the island regardless of how they consider it
There are options for using some upland (not wetlands) property by Big Pine for dewatering and maintenance (will have to be mapped/surveyed)
They were open to maintenance at Mill Creek but with limitations on the structures in place; uplands present there to work on
Removing the wetlands from the Mill Creek (South) area is possible (6 months estimated timeline for permitting); storing material temporarily on/within them is possible (but most likely not practical for us); storing material permanently is possible but not probable
DEQ had a few questions about the process related to their Individual Permit but our design will work better than the one that they require so he was very receptive to that information
Dredging the rest of the lake (open water) should not be a problem or none expressed
RESPONSE TO MEETING FROM USACE
USACE asked for acreage of wetlands w/o a lot of more work - which is really good news
I will respond (<1/10th ac) within the proposed boundary and they will review
They will use this information to track throughout the entirety of the project for total acreage converted back to open water
I did ask about the recent - Sackett vs. EPA court case - it won't be applicable to this project b/c wetland is not isolated but rather integrated (directly with the lake/water)
Overall, this is as expected and good news. I can update the timeline once I get a new one. All parties will provide their comments to the USACE and they will respond to us. This will set us in motion to start Phase I. I think along with that we can consider what is next based on the funds available. We can start any additional permitting based on that as well, so that it tracks along with the dredging.
John Bryant
VP of Business Development
River Sand, Inc.