Phase I Cultural Resources Survey, Phase II Evaluative Testing, and Assessment of Effects of 1,364.2 acres for the Bryan County EVOEM Assembly Facility

Between May 2 and June 17, 2022, Brockington and Associates, Inc. (Brockington) conducted a Phase I

cultural resources survey, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) evaluative testing, and an assessment

of effects (AOE) for the proposed Bryan County Electric Vehicle Original Equipment Manufacturer

(EVOEM) assembly facility in Bryan County, Ellabell, Georgia. The proposed project consists of construction of a unique, electric-vehicle, original-equipment manufacturing (EVOEM) assembly facility that will include the construction of several buildings, a train yard, a truck yard, a finished product yard, roadways, parking areas, a rail spur, stormwater ponds, and utilities. The overall project tract consists of 2,542.2 acres located southwest from I-16, northeast of Black Creek, southeast from US 280, and north of the Central of Georgia Railroad in Ellabell, Georgia. In 2015 and 2018, Brockington surveyed 1,411.7 acres of the overall 2,542.2-acre tract (Rock et al. 2018). HPD concurred with the results of Rock et al.’s (2018) investigation in 2018 (Appendix C). This current report documented the results of the 2022 fieldwork that covered the remaining 1,364.20 acres of the overall 2,542.2-acre project tract. The goal of our investigation was to identify all cultural resources located within the Area of Potential Effects (APE) boundaries, provide a definitive NRHP evaluation for each resource, and conduct an AOE for any NRHP-eligible resources. This investigation was carried out for the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority (JDA) and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDED) in partial fulfillment of guidelines established for Section 404 of the Clean Water Act permit with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Savannah District. Background research conducted on Georgia’s Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS) along with previous reports revealed no previously recorded archaeological sites within the current project’s APE. Five previously recorded archaeological sites that were recorded during Rock et al.’s (2018) investigation are located within a 1.0-km (0.62 mile) radius of the project tract. None of the previously recorded sites within the vicinity of the project tract are eligible for the NRHP. In October of 2018, the Historic Preservation Division (HPD) concurred that

none of these five archaeological sites are eligible for the NRHP (Appendix C). None of the previously recorded archaeological sites are located within an area of direct or indirect impact for any proposed development within the project tract. Therefore, no previously recorded archaeological sites will be impacted by the proposed industrial development. Two previously recorded historic resources (Resources 1 and 2) that were recorded by Rock et al. (2018) are located within the project tract. Both Resource 1 and 2 were determined not eligible by HPD in October 2018 (Appendix C). Therefore, additional management considerations of these two previously recorded historic resources within the project tract are not necessary. Brockington’s archaeological field survey included systematic visual examination and 30-meter (m) interval shovel test excavations within the project tract. Our investigation identified six archaeological sites (9BN 1637-9BN1642) and nine isolated finds. Phase II evaluative testing was conducted on two of the recorded sites (9BN1640 and 9BN1641), three pre-contact archaeological sites (9BN1639, 9BN1640, and 9BN1641), and three historic period sites (9BN1637, 9BN1638, and 9BN1642). All of the identified archaeological sites and isolated finds are recommended not eligible for the NRHP, and additional management considerations of these archaeological resources are not warranted. No additional historic resources that were not documented by Rock et al. (2018) are located within the APE of this current investigation. We conducted an AOE for the two NRHP-eligible resources documented in Rock et al. (2018), which includes a circa 1930, cross-gabled bungalow (Resource 225086/BN-123) and Resource 25, the Central of Georgia Rail Line. The proposed undertaking does not have the potential to affect, physically or visually, any NRHP-qualifying features of Resource 225086, and we recommend a finding of no adverse visual effect for the proposed project. The proposed project will add two rail spurs to the existing Central of Georgia Rail Line, which will be keeping with the industrial and commercial use and setting of the rail line. Therefore, we recommend a finding of no adverse effect to the Central of Georgia Rail Line. The proposed industrial development of the Bryan County EVOEM assembly facility will not adversely affect any NRHP-eligible resources, and cultural resources clearance is recommended.