Phase I Cultural Resources Survey and Inventory of the Proposed Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. Jurisdictional Etowah LNG Peakshaving Facility, Polk County, Georgia

Fieldwork for the Phase I cultural resources survey, assessment, and archeological inventory of the proposed Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. Jurisdictional Etowah LNG Peakshaving Facility in Polk County, Georgia, was completed between November 6 and 10, 1997 by R. Christopher Goodwin & Associates, Inc., on behalf of Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. The Etowah Peakshaving Facility was surveyed as one component of the Etowah Peakshaving Project which also includes: the Etowah Pipeline, the Etowah/SNG Meter Station, the Etowah/AGL Meter Station, the Non-Jurisdictional EtowahMars Hill Road Pipeline, the Georgia Power Etowah Powerline and the Georgia Power Substation. This project was undertaken in accordance with the procedures outlined in the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended; the Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act of 1974; the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, as amended; and Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 60-66 and 800, as appropriate. Survey and excavation efforts abided by the standards set forth in A Strategy for Cultural Resource Planning in Georgia and the Georgia Archaeological Research Design. Although the Jurisdictional Etowah Peakshaving Site will encompass an area measuring approximately 883 ac (357.4 ha) in size, only a 50.4 ac (20.4 ha) portion of this area will be utilized to construct the proposed Jurisdictional Etowah Peakshaving Facility; the remaining area will serve as a buffer and will not be impacted by the proposed construction. Included within the area of the proposed Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. Jurisdictional Etowah Peakshaving Facility are two meter stations totalling 0.46 ac (0.18 ha). In addition, two roads will provide access to the plant. The first road, which will be utilized only during construction, will consist of an existing graded dirt road. A second, permanent access road will be constructed to serve the plant site. Each of these roads will measure approximately 1.9 km (1.18 mi) in length. Both roads will originate at Davis Town Road and extend in a southerly direction toward the proposed plant site. The proposed Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. Jurisdictional Etowah Peakshaving Facility and associated access roads will be constructed in the northeast corner of Polk County, near its boundary with Paulding and Bartow counties, Georgia. More precisely, the project area will be located within Land Lots 379, 412-417, 448-453, 486488, and 522-523 of the 18th District of Polk County, Georgia. The fieldwork for this project consisted of intensive pedestrian reconnaissance and systematic subsurface testing within the limits of the proposed Etowah LNG Company, L.L.C. Jurisdictional Etowah Peakshaving Facility. Fieldwork also included a pedestrian survey and subsurface testing of two access roads intended for use during and after construction of the facility. The archeological inventory was designed to identify, record, and assess preliminarily all cultural resources situated within the currently proposed construction site and access roads. Only one previously recorded site, 9P056, has been identified within the project area. This site was described as a prehistoric period lithic scatter. The current inventory failed to relocate any evidence of Site 9P056. Two additional cultural resources loci were recorded as a result of this survey. Locus AR2-1 consisted of a single Ledbetter, corner notched projectile point and Locus AR2-2 consisted of a single lithic flake. Both the newly recorded cultural resources loci were assessed as not significant applying the National Register of Historic Places criteria for evaluation (36 CFR 60.4 [a-d]). In addition, two sites (9P057 and 9P058) have been recorded just south of the proposed construction site, within the Jurisdictional Etowah LNG Peakshaving Site. Site 9P057 is described as a prehistoric lithic quarry site, and Site 9P058 is described as an historic homestead. Because both of these sites are located outside of the currently proposed facility construction site, no attempt was made to relocate them during the present study. No additional testing or evaluation of Site 9P056, the two cultural resources loci identified during this inventory, or of the proposed project area is recommended.