MILTON-FREEWATER, Oregon – The Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) invites comments from the public draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Birch Creek Road Bridge Replacement Section 408 Permission Environmental Assessment (EA).
The EA describes the Corps’ plans to grant Section 408 permission to the Milton-Freewater Water Control District pursuant to 33 USC 408 (Section 408) and Engineer Circular EC 1165-2-216, to alter a portion of the Corps-constructed Walla Walla Flood Control Project levees on the Walla Walla River in Umatilla County, Oregon, three miles northeast of the City of Milton Freewater.
The Section 408 permission would apply to a request by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to replace the Birch Creek Road with a new bridge span approximately 175 feet south of the existing bridge. ODOT would alter the levees by constructing new bridge abutments and new approaches to the bridge structure. In addition, ODOT would install six H-piles for temporary support of the new bridge span during construction. The old bridge would be removed and its abutments would remain as part of the levee system.
Public comments may be submitted March 8-22, 2017. Comments must be emailed or postmarked no later than March 22, 2017, to be considered in the final FONSI and EA. You may submit comments via email to NEPANWW@usace.army.mil, noting "Birch Creek Bridge" in the subject line. You may also mail comments to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
ATTN: CENWW-PD-EC – Birch Creek Bridge
201 North 3rd Ave.
Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876
The Corps’ draft FONSI and EA, with appendices, and the ODOT’s Birch Creek Road Bridge project fact sheet are available on the Walla Walla District’s Environmental Compliance webpage http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Compliance/.
For more information or questions about the Section 408 permission action, please contact the Corps’ environmental coordinator at 509-527-7262. For more information about the bridge project, please contact the ODOT Region 5 project leader at 541-963-1365.
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Release no. 17-021