NICAN Guest Opinion Daily Bee,

Guest Opinion re FONSI 4/18/05

As noted in the front page article in the 4/16 Daily Bee, the Federal Highway Administration has issued the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the 2004 Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Changes and Additions to the Sand Creek "byway" project. This step finalizes the EA.

It is important to note that the FONSI is by no means the final hurdle that must be overcome in order for ITD to start construction. Three of the requirements that ITD must meet before beginning Sand Creek highway construction include: 1) a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to place 64,000 cubic yards of fill in Sand Creek and adjacent wetlands; 2) a 401 Water Quality Certification from the Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality (IDEQ); and 3) the purchase of several acres of railroad property for the highway Right-of-Way.

Furthermore, the Lakebed Encroachment permit from the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) will not be issued until ITD obtains the Corps permit, the Water Quality Certification and the ROW property.

Meeting these and other requirements could take months and perhaps even years. ITD has still not provided answers to questions and information requested by the Army Corps and IDEQ that are necessary in order for the agencies to make decisions on whether to approve the project.

Furthermore, ITD recently added another major change to the project. ITD is now proposing to dredge a new channel in Sand Creek. The proposal was included in ITD's response to IDEQ's request for more information.

The new proposal to dredge the creek will require ITD to apply for an additional permit from IDL and get approval of the dredging from the Army Corps and IDEQ. ITD must develop detailed plans for how the dredging will be accomplished and an analysis of the impacts in order to apply for the additional permits.

The purpose of the dredging is to avoid the impacts of forcing the creek to cut a new channel around the massive fill ("shoreline extension") north of Bridge St. An independent hydraulic engineer pointed out in a report commissioned by NICAN that ITD's hydraulic analysis failed to consider the impacts of filling the winter channel when the winter lake level is at 2051. Massive erosion and movement of the streambed would occur as the channel re-establishes itself. (See River Design Group report at www.nican.info )

ITD's proposal includes an alternative that would dredge and remove about 4300 cubic yards (430 truckloads) of sandy creek bottom. Public hearings and answers to many questions from the agencies and the public will be required before permits for dredging are granted.

This could take a while…

Liz Sedler Executive Director, NICAN