Blakely 115/25 kV Substation, Early County Addendum

As you know, I submitted to you on August 21, 20.15, a report of our archeological survey of a 4.9-ac tract of land on which GTC wishes to construct the Blakely substation, on the outskirts of the town of Blakely. On August 31, 20.15, you sent me a map showing that the project requires an additional 0.8 ac of land (10.0. by 365 feet) on the west side of what we had originally surveyed. This is a low lying, wooded tract.

I have examined this map (attached) to assess the need for a return visit to conduct more fieldwork, and I firmly believe that no further fieldwork is needed. During the original survey that I conducted on July 29, 2015, I walked through that area, going as much as 10.0. ft west of the field edge. As is true in much of south Georgia, open cultivated fields tend to be on higher, better drained soils and is thus where sites tend to occur. At the same time, adjacent wooded lands tend to be composed of lower, more poorly drained land, where sites of any type rarely occur. This is true of the added 10.0. ft strip to the west that you depict. It is low, featureless land that has a very low probability of having a site and an almost zero percent chance of having a significant (eligible) site. I saw no indications of a site being there when I walked through it in late July.

Thus, my recommendation is that no further work is needed at the proposed substation site, and I continue to recommend that the proposed project (including the additional 36,50.0. ft2) will have no effect on sites eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.