Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Disposal of Dredged Materials in San Diego Bay, San Diego, CA

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for

the Disposal of Dredged Materials in San Diego Bay, San Diego, CA

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy

Act (NEPA) of 1969 as implemented by the Council on Environmental

Quality regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), the Department of the

Navy announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) for the disposal of dredged materials in San Diego Bay, San

Diego, California.

Several dredging projects are proposed by the Navy in the central

portion of San Diego Bay. Maintenance dredging is required for

maintaining existing channels and berthing areas. Pier 2 and Pier 3

dredging projects will provide additional safe navigational and

berthing depth for deep draft power intensive ships which will be

homeported in San Diego Bay through Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)

at naval stations in Long Beach and the San Francisco Bay area, and

ships which are planned for construction.

Approximately half of the dredged materials are expected to contain

contaminated sediments which may be restrained from disposing them in

the ocean. These sediments have accumulated in the bay bottom either

from urban-industrial source runoff upstream from San Diego Bay, or

potentially from past pier-side maintenance activities. Determination

of appropriate processes and locations for placement of dredged

contaminated sediments and their effect on the regional environment

will be evaluated in the EIS.

Disposal alternatives for dredged contaminated sediments currently

identified for consideration in the EIS are: (1) Placement in a

confined location capped with clean materials, such as sand or clay,

inside San Diego Bay; (2) placement with capping in areas such as the

Seventh Street Channel (Paleta Creek) to create or enhance biological

habitat; (3) placement behind bulkheads in bay waters such as Paleta

Creak to create ``fastland'' or reclaimed land; (4) placement at a

confined upland location such as sites on Naval Station, San Diego or

Naval Air Station North Island for dewatering and drying; and (5)

placement of contaminated sediments in either non-hazardous waste

landfills (if treated or ``remediated'' to remove hazardous components)

or hazardous waste landfills (if not remediated).

Environmental issues which will be discussed in the EIS include:

Methods of dredging and disposal; biological impacts resulting from

dredging and sediment disposal; geological impacts caused by dredging;

air quality impacts from dredging equipment operations and disposal

activity; hydrological and water quality impacts from dredging and

disposal; treatment technologies; aesthetics, cultural resources, and

health and safety impacts. Issue analysis will include an evaluation of

direct, indirect, short-term, long-term, and cumulative impacts

associated with the proposed action. The decision to implement the

proposed action or any alternatives to the proposed action will not be

made until the NEPA process is complete.

The Navy will initiate a scoping process for the purpose of

determining the scope of issues to be addressed and for identifying

significant issues relative to this action. The Navy will hold a public

scoping meeting on Thursday, 26 May, 1994, beginning at 7 p.m. at the

Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest Division, 1220 Pacific

Highway, San Diego, California. This meeting will be advertised in San

Diego area newspapers.

A formal presentation will precede public testimony. Navy

representatives will be available at the scoping meeting to receive

comments from the public. It is important that federal, state, and

local agencies, as well as interested individuals, take this

opportunity to identify environmental concerns that should be addressed

during the preparation of the EIS. In the interest of available time,

each speaker will be asked to limit their oral comments to five

minutes.

Agencies and the public are also invited and encouraged to provide

written comments in addition to, or in lieu of, oral comments at the

public meeting. To be most helpful, scoping comments should clearly

describe specific issues or topics that the EIS should address. Written

statements and/or questions regarding the scoping process should be

mailed no later than 13 June 1994 to: Commanding Officer, Southwest

Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 1220 Pacific Highway,

San Diego, CA 92132-5190 (Attn: Ms. Sherry Ashbaugh, Code 232.SA),

telephone (619) 532-1159.

Dated: May 5, 1994.

Lewis T. Booker, Jr.,

LCDR, JAGC, USN, Federal Register Liaison Officer.

[FR Doc. 94-11206 Filed 5-9-94; 8:45 am]

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