Avoiding and minimizing wetland and wildlife impacts in the Van Loon Bottoms during powerline...
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Transcript of Avoiding and minimizing wetland and wildlife impacts in the Van Loon Bottoms during powerline...
Avoiding and Minimizing Wetland and Wildlife
Impacts in the Van Loon Bottoms During Powerline
Construction
Sara Viernum, Wildlife Biologist
Project Description• Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC)
• Not-for-profit Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative
• Rural Electrification in four states – WI, MN, IA, IL• Headquarter La Crosse, WI
• Regional Touchstone Energy Cooperative Partner
Project Description• Rebuilt 161 kilovolt (kV) Electric Transmission Line
• Transmission line was built in 1950; 65 years old• Need of rebuild
• Old structures• Power and fiber optic outages due to failing structures
Original Structure
Project Description• Rebuilt 161 kV Electric Transmission Line
• Fall 2015• 13 miles total
• 3 miles within Van Loon Bottoms– Black River floodplain in La Crosse County – 0.9 miles USFWS Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish
Refuge – 0.3 miles WDNR Van Loon Wildlife Area– 1.8 miles private lands
Van Loon Bottoms
DPC ROW
USFWS
WDNR
Stantec
Tank
Cre
ek
Black R
iver
Project Description• Rebuilt 161 kV Electric Transmission Line
• Uplands: 69 H-frame steel structures 500-700 feet apart• Wetlands: 28 Y-frame steel structures 600-800 feet apart
• 3-mile Black River Floodplain – 22 Y-frames installed with heavy-lift helicopter– Only 65 feet of existing 80-foot right-of way used
New Y-frames
Impact Concerns• Wetland Impacts
• Soil disturbance and compaction• Species Impacts
• Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus)• State endangered; Federally proposed
• Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) • State threathened
• Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus )• State endangered
• Bell’s Vireo (Vireo belli)• State threatened
• Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea)• State threatened
©WDNR
Mitigation and Conservation• DPC, AECOM, Stantec, USFWS, and WDNR
• Project-specific Mitigation and Conservation Plan• Incidental Take Permit
• Eastern massasauga• Wood Turtle
• Avoidance• Loggerhead Shrike• Bell’s Vireo• Cerulean Warbler
Mitigation and Conservation• Based on:
• Desktop reviews of recent aerial photography• Discussions with USFWS and WDNR• Habitat observations from previous field visits• Alternative analyses –
• Relocating to CapX Project• Three alternative routes
– Hwy 35 Route– Seven Bridges Route– Galesville Route
» Impacted more residences» Increased line length» Substantially more costly » Greater environmental impacts
Wetland Mitigation•Wetland Impact Minimizations
• Amphibious UTVs• Foot Travel• Helicopters• Temporary Matting
• Around new structures only• No transmission structures placed in waterbodies• Impact monitoring by onsite Stantec Environmental
Inspector, WDNR Biologists, and USFWS Biologists
Wetland Mitigation• Foot Travel
• Minimize soil disturbance and compaction
• Amphibious UTVs• Argo, Hydratrek, and Marsh Master
• Transport personnel and small equipment
• Low ground pressure rubber tracks or tires
• Minimize soil disturbance and compaction– Limited traffic in ROW to single access
paths up to 12ft wide
Wetland Mitigation
Wetland Impact Avoidance• Helicopters
• Smaller Helicopters• Personnel• Small equipment
Two Linemen
Wetland Impact Avoidance• Helicopters
• Heavy-lift Sikorsky S-64 Air Crane • Large equipment
― New and Old Utility Structures― Mats― Hammer and Power Unit
©Erik Daily, La Crosse Tribune
Hammer
Wetland Mitigation• Impacts
• Permanent• Approx. 0.01 acres for new structures
• Temporary• Approx. up to 0.3 acres for new structure matting• Approx. up to 5 acres for access routes
Wetland Mitigation• DPC Long-term Maintenance
• Conduct a ground inspection• Restore all areas of temporary disturbance to pre-existing
or improved habitat conditions• Every 5 years
• Prepare and implement Vegetation Management Work Plans with USFWS and WDNR
Species Conservation• Avoidance
• Loggerhead Shrike• Bell’s Vireo• Cerulean Warbler
• Construction activities conducted after August 15 avoided breeding season
Species Conservation• Onsite Monitoring
• Eastern Massasauga• Wood Turtle
• Up to two onsite Stantec Biologists― Trained to handle and relocate
species to nearby habitat― Hold E/T permits for target species― Equipped with snake tongs― VES ahead of all construction
activities― Remain near crews at all times― Monitored from construction start
September 1 until the start of WDNR designated species inactive season October 31
*note eastern gartersnake hence why I’m free handling it
Species Conservation• Impacts
• No massasaugas or wood turtles observed during monitoring
• DPC Long-term Maintenance• Conduct an updated endangered resources review
within one year
Species Conservation• Additional Wildlife Sightings
• Northern Leopard Frogs• Green Frogs• Blue-spotted Salamanders• Eastern Gartersnakes• Midland Brownsnakes• Northern Watersnakes• Blanding's Turtle• Snapping Turtle • Midland Painted Turtles• Bald Eagles• Mink• Wolf prints• White-tailed Deer
Questions?