17-062 Corps seeks public input for Mill Creek Project O&M SEIS; Public scoping meeting scheduled for May 24

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Walla Walla District (Corps) invites public scoping comments for the Mill Creek Project Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The Corps is proposing to prepare the SEIS to the 1975 Mill Creek Project Final Environmental Impact Statement.

Public scoping for this effort will take place from May 12 through June 12, 2017. The purpose of the proposed action is to operate and maintain the Mill Creek Project for its authorized project purposes (flood risk management and recreation), while also considering operational and structural changes. A SEIS is needed because Project operations have changed over time and there are new circumstances and information relevant to decisions on how the Mill Creek Project is operated.

The Corps is particularly interested in your comments on issues and environmental effects that should be considered. Scoping comments will be used in: 1) identifying issues to address; 2) exploring alternatives; and 3) identifying potential environmental effects of possible changes to O&M activities.

Mill Creek Project’s existing 1975 Final EIS and other associated documents are available on the Corps’ website http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/MillCreekSEIS/.

Electronic comments may be filed directly online at: http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/EnvironmentalComplianceComment/ or emailed to NEPANWW@usace.army.mil, inserting “MCL O&M SEIS” in the subject line. To submit written comments via the U.S. Postal Service, mail them to:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Walla Walla District
ATTN: PPL-C, MCL O&M SEIS,
201 N. 3rd Avenue
Walla Walla, WA 99362

An open-house-style public scoping meeting will be held at the Walla Walla Regional Airport Community Meeting Room located at 45 Terminal Loop Road on May 24, 2017 from 4-7 p.m. The meeting will include information stations for O&M, and environmental and cultural considerations. Corps staff experts will be available to help answer questions. Written comments will also be accepted at the meeting.

Individuals with questions regarding this meeting and the SEIS should contact the Corps’ environmental compliance specialist at 509-527-7267 or NEPANWW@usace.army.mil.
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