Between June 7 and June 10, 2021, Brockington and Associates, Inc. (Brockington) conducted a cultural resources survey of approximately 2.5 miles of an existing 115kV transmission line located between Tugalo Dam and Yonah Dam in Habersham and Stephens Counties, Georgia. All work was conducted within transmission rights-of-way (ROWs) or proposed ROWs that are excluded from federal permitting under GPC’s license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license for the North Georgia Hydroelectric Project. In addition, the existing towers requiring replacement are not part of the FERC license. Therefore, this project was conducted for Georgia Power Company (GPC) as part of a due diligence survey.
GPC is planning to update 17 current power distribution structures and is considering moving the ROW in the areas between Structures 9 and 10 (Figure 1) to better accommodate these new structures. An additional adjacent parcel of 25 acres encompassing Structure 11 (Parcel A) was also investigated between Structures 10 and 12. Furthermore, an existing lattice structure atop the Yonah Dam will be removed and a new structure (No. 17) installed near the existing switchyard; because the Yonah Hydroelectric Facility has been previously determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), GPC also requested an Assessment of Effects (AOE) regarding the relocation of Structure 17.
Survey investigations were carried out on behalf of GPC by personnel qualified under 36 CFR Part 61. Survey tasks were completed in accordance with criteria defined under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966 (as amended) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation-revised 36 CFR Part 800 Regulations. Background research and field survey were used to identify potentially significant resources within the project tract.
The project tract includes discrete portions of existing open transmission lines which are currently in use and sections of wooded hills and ridgetops (Figure 2). The project tract includes areas of mixed hardwoods and pines which provide a moderate to dense overstory canopy that is often covered in kudzu vine. In cleared areas of the ROW, understory vegetation includes grasses, some briars, and dense kudzu vines.
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