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Phase I Cultural Resource Survey of the Georgia Portion of the Sabal Trail Project, Stewart, Webster, Terrell, Lee, Dougherty, Mitchell, Colquitt, Brooks, and Lowndes Counties, Georgia

Report Number
9573
Year of Publication
2016
County
Abstract

Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC (Sabal Trail), a joint venture among affiliates of Spectra Energy Partners, LP, NextEra Energy, Inc., and Duke Energy Corporation, has been issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) pursuant to Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act authorizing the construction and operation of the Sabal Trail Project (Project) (FERC Docket No. CP-15-17-000; DA Permit No. SAS-2013-00942; HPD No. HP-131022-004). The Project involves construction of ca. 482.4 miles of new 36-inch natural gas pipeline (the mainline route) from a Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, LLC (Transco) pipeline in Tallapoosa County, Alabama to a new interconnection hub (the Central Florida Hub) in Osceola County, Florida. The Project also includes construction of associated compressor stations, meter and regulating (M&R) stations, and mainline valves (MLVs), and use of additional temporary work spaces (ATWSs), access roads, and contractor yards. In addition, the Project includes construction of approximately 13.2 miles of new 36-inch diameter pipeline (the Hunters Creek Line) and 21.5 miles of new 24-inch pipeline (the Citrus County Line) in Florida.

Approximately 162.2 miles of the Sabal Trail mainline route are located in Georgia, where the route traverses Stewart, Webster, Terrell, Lee, Dougherty, Mitchell, Colquitt, Brooks, and Lowndes counties. Associated above-ground facilities in Georgia include the Albany Compressor Station as well as eight MLVs and a Launcher/Receiver site, all of which will be located along the route or within the Albany Compressor Station site. In addition, the Project will also involve the use of contractor yards and over 100 access roads in Georgia, as well as a number of ATWSs. The Project Area of Potential Effects (APE) for archaeological resources in Georgia was defined as a 300-ft-wide (ca. 91.44-m-wide) environmental study corridor containing the mainline route, a 50-ft-wide (ca. 15.24-m-wide) corridor along proposed access roads, and the footprints of compressor station, contractor yards, and other support facilities.

A revised draft report (Kosalko et al. 2015) documenting the initial cultural resources surveys of the Georgia portion of the Project, including the mainline route as well as associated facilities, was submitted to the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) of the (Georgia) Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in May 2015 (Kosalko et al. 2015). That report presented the results of surveys conducted by TRC Environmental Corporation (TRC) on behalf of Sabal Trail from September 2013 through July 2014, as well as supplemental surveys requested by the HPD in the same survey areas, which were conducted in February 2015. Six previous addendum reports (Kosalko 2016; Kosalko and Burr 2015a, 2015b, 2016; Kosalko and Webb 2015, 2016) covering additional surveys conducted from August 2014 through April 2016 have also been submitted to and reviewed by HPD. Associated surveys conducted for the Alabama and Florida portions of the Project were reported separately, as were the Phase II archaeological investigations in all three states.

This addendum report (Addendum 7) documents supplemental surveys conducted for recently identified route modifications and ancillary facilities. These surveys covered approximately 0.4 miles (0.65 km) of proposed modifications to the pipeline route in Brooks County and a 4.02-acre (1.62-hectare) proposed contractor yard (CY2-6; Callis Road Contractor Yard) in Terrell County. No archaeological resources were identified during these surveys. Although a previously identified historic architectural resource (Resource 59388/HS-67, a ca. 1890s Folk Victorian house) is mapped near CY 2-6 in Terrell County, the structure is no longer present, and TRC recommends that the associated property is ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places.