Corps projects continue during
government shutdown
Los Angeles District Public Affairs
LOS ANGELES -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los
Angeles District projects continue to operate temporarily
despite the government shutdown.
The Corps is unique among federal agencies in that it is
funded mostly through individual projects that carry over
from year to year. Many Los Angeles District projects have
enough remaining funding from past appropriations for
work to continue beyond Oct. 1. The District will evaluate
its remaining funds weekly to determine which projects can
continue and for how long.
“These are important projects for our communities, in
terms of the economy, the environment and risk reduction,
and we’re going to keep working on them as long as we
possibly can with remaining funds,” said Los Angeles District
Commander Col. Kim Colloton. “We’re doing everything we
can to minimize any impacts of a funding lapse to our work
and our workforce.”
If funding runs out, only staff essential to public safety,
like dam operators and emergency responders, will work.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District
provides planning, engineering, project management, environmental restoration and construction services to military
and civilian customers in parts of four western states, including Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
Corps, public discuss Whittier Narrows Dam modifications
Greg Fuderer
PICO RIVERA, Calif. – The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles
District held a public scoping meeting
to comply with the National Environmental policy Act here Sept. 11 to describe potential structural modifications
to Whittier Narrows Dam and to seek
comments from the public on issues and
concerns they wish to have considered
during the preparation of its supporting
Environmental Impact Statement.
Of particular interest were the
impacts on environmental resources
that might be significant without the
implementation of mitigation measures. These resources include water
quality, noise and vibration, air quality,
socioeconomics and environmental
justice, land use, recreation, visual and
aesthetic resources, traffic and transportation, historical and cultural resources,
vegetation and wildlife, and special
status species.
The study and the EIS will identify
and evaluate an array of remediation
alternatives that include modifications
to the downstream toe of the dam,
raising the crest elevation of the dam,
replacing a section of the embankment,
modifying or replacing the spillway, and
increasing the upstream storage capacity.
Following a presentation by project manager Kathy Anderson, project
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The District held a public meeting to discuss modifications to Whittier Narrows Dam Sept. 11.
Local citizens were able to provide feedback on their concerns surrounding the dam. (Photo by
David A. Salazar)
engineer Doug Chitwood and project
rized by Congress in the Flood Control
environmental coordinator Debbie
Act of 1936.
Lamb, attendees expressed interest in
Whittier Narrows Dam is one of
ensuring the Corps investigated potennearly 700 dams throughout the nation
tial impacts of higher water levels on
that are managed by the Corps.
the Whittier Narrows Nature Center,
All were evaluated during a risk
upstream residents, nearby industrial
assessment program that began in
assets and local infrastructure. They
2005. Due to potential for overtopping
also asked the Corps to consider how
and seepage-related failure modes,
any proposed work would impact recthe Corps determined the dam could
reational facilities and whether enviexpose the downstream communities to
ronmental restrictions would adversely
unacceptable levels of risk in an extreme
impact the schedule.
storm event. Corps officials stressed,
The Corps completed construction
however, that the level of concern is
of Whittier Narrows Dam in 1957. It
based primarily on the density of the
is an integral component of the Los
population downstream there, and that
Angeles County Drainage Area system
there is no immediate danger of the
of dams and channelized rivers, authodam breaching.
Corps holds public meetings on proposed mine changes
Daniel J. Calderón
PHOENIX – Members of the Regulatory Division of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers Los Angeles District’s
Arizona-Nevada Area Office held public
scoping meetings on Sept. 24 and 25 in
Kearney and Apache Junction, Ariz., to
discuss a proposal for a new tailing facility for the Ray Mine in Pinal County.
“For this particular project, we determined that an Environmental Impact
Statement is required before we can
even consider issuing a 404 permit,” said
Mike Langley, senior project manager
with the Regulatory Division. “We’re
pretty early on in the process, though.”
The purpose of the meetings was
to provide information to the public
in areas that could be affected by the
proposal by ASARCO and to provide
members of the public a forum in
which they could receive information
from ASARCO and from the District
regarding the process. Langley and his
team also provided a means by which
the public could give feedback to the
District regarding their thoughts on the
proposed tailing facility.
More than three dozen members
of the Kearney community attended
the meeting on the 24th and nearly two
dozen attended in Apache Junction the
following night. The assembled community members learned the history of the
Ray Mine and the steps in the Corps of
Engineers’ EIS process.
The mine began operations in the
1940s, beginning as an underground
mining operation, and has evolved since
then. The current storage for the mine’s
tailings is projected to run out in less
than 10 years. ASARCO has identified
a potential location for the new facility
which will be able to hold the tailings
for the remaining projected life of the
mine; however, it does affect waters of
the United States along the Gila River.
Because of this, the Corps of Engineers
is the lead agency on the EIS.
“The Gila River is a perennial water
source just south of this facility if it is
built,” explained Langley. “In Arizona,
we’re concerned primarily with areas of
fresh water.”
Langley said the plan is to have a
draft EIS published in Septem ber 2014
and to have it available for public comment at that time. That October, the
District plans to have public meetings
on the draft so members of the public
can comment on it and any changes
can be made. Following the comment
period and after any changes have been
made, Langley said the District plans
to issue the final EIS in September 2015
and issue the Record of Decision of
whether the District will issue or deny
ASARCO’s permit request in October
2015.
The current comment period on the
scoping meetings will end on Oct. 28.
Mike Langley, a senior project manager in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Arizona-Nevada Area Office’s Regulatory Division,
discusses options during a public meeting held Sept. 24 for the proposed new tailings facility for Asarco’s Ray Mine. (Photo by Daniel J. Calderon)
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