11.4-Mile Transmission Line Rebuild, Concordia Parish, LA & Adams County, MS

• Client

  Entergy Corporation

• Division

  Environmental

• Scope

  Wetland Delineation, T&E Species Surveys, and Federal/State Authorizations

• Completion

  2020

Entergy Corporation (Entergy) retained C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, L.L.C. (Fenstermaker) to provide environmental services necessary to support construction of 11.4 miles of transmission line rebuild from Natchez, Mississippi to Red Gum, Louisiana. The scope of the project was to rebuild an existing transmission line to 230KV standards.  Existing H-frame poles were removed and replaced with steel monopoles which required expansion of the existing right-of-way. The scope also included two material/office yards and additional temporary workspace along the right-of-way for tower assembly yards.  Due to deposition of fill material identified within wetlands along the construction easement and the rebuild traversing a Federal protection levee, the project required USACE Section 10/404 and Section 408 permitting.

Fenstermaker managed key environmental field tasks including wetland delineations and threatened and endangered (T&E) species surveys.  The Fenstermaker team conducted the wetland delineation per the 1987 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Wetlands Delineation Manual and the Regional Supplement to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain Region (Version 2.0, November 2010). The team generated a report and obtained a preliminary jurisdictional determination from the USACE.  The team also conducted a T&E species survey within the right-of-way which included informal consultation with USFWS for endangered species act coordination. Fenstermaker oversaw the receipt of authorizations & clearance letters from federal & state agencies.

Fenstermaker identified one challenge during environmental field tasks: the transmission line route crossed a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetlands Reserve Program easement. Fenstermaker consulted with Entergy to discuss possible solutions. Rerouting the proposed rebuild was dismissed as an option since the rebuild was being proposed within Entergy’s existing easement.  Ultimately, the project team agreed the appropriate solution was to obtain a Compatible Use Authorization from NRCS. Fenstermaker initiated this additional permit application.  Entergy received the NRCS Compatible Use Authorization permit with time to spare.

Fenstermaker ensured Entergy received all required authorizations within the planned project schedule, allowing Entergy to begin construction on time.  The authorizations included:

• USACE Section 10/404 for impacts to waters and wetlands
• USACE Section 408 for crossings of the Mississippi River Protection Levee and Mississippi River
• NRCS Compatible Use Authorization for crossing of a Wetlands Reserve Program easement
• Letters of No Objection from LADOTD and Fifth LA Levee District for federal easement crossings