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Wetland Permitting Public Notices

Cavenham Forest Industries, LLC has filed an application with the Department of Marine Resources requesting permission to conduct regulated activities under the provision of the Coastal Wetlands Protection Law Act, Title 49, Chapter 27, Mississippi Code of 1972.

The applicant is proposing to construct environmental control and containment structures as part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated remediation project located on its property adjacent to the confluence of Turkey Creek and Bernard Bayou in Gulfport, Harrison County, MS. The project involves the construction and installation of engineered subsurface barriers and earthen-fill caps for the containment of residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a known contaminant of concern (COC) at the former wood treating facility. The applicant proposes to fill two inlets along Turkey Creek impacting approximately 0.85 acre of coastal wetlands (0.5 acre of open-water bottoms and 0.35 acre of emergent wetlands) to prevent migration of contaminants into Turkey Creek. Approximately 925 linear feet of sheetpile bulkhead will be installed to retain the fill for the two inlets and to stabilize the shoreline along another section of Turkey Creek. In addition, approximately 2.82 acres of non-tidal wetlands on the site will be impacted by control and containment measures. The applicant has proposed to excavate existing uplands along Bernard Bayou and create waterbottoms and emergent wetlands to compensate for the impacts to coastal wetlands filled for the remediation project. In order to receive a "no-rise" certificate required by FEMA, the applicant is proposing to construct a floodwater spillway between Turkey Creek and Bayou Bernard to help alleviate the loss of flood plain after construction. The concrete-lined spillway will be approximately 192 feet long, 84 feet wide and 3 feet deep. The spillway will be constructed in uplands above mean high water and will only function during flood events. The applicant will be required to request a variance to Chapter 8, Section 2, Part 111.O.1 of the Mississippi Coastal Program, which reads in part that... "Permanent filling of coastal wetlands because of potential adverse and cumulative environmental impacts is discouraged." and a variance from Chapter 8, Section 2, Part 111.D.3, of the Mississippi Coastal Program (MCP) which reads in part: "Vertical face structures shall be aligned no further waterward than mean high tide, and constructed so that reflective wave energy does not destroy adjacent wetlands habitat."

In compliance with Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251, 1341), as amended by PL 95-217, the applicant will request certification from the Office of Pollution Control that the above mentioned activity will be in compliance with applicable provisions of Section 301 (33 U.S.C. 1311), Section 302 (33 U.S.C. 1312), Section 303 (U.S.C. 1313), Section 306 (U.S.C. 1316), and Section 307 (U.S.C. 1317) of the Act and appropriate requirements of the State Law.

Any person wishing to make comments or objections to the proposed regulated activity must submit those comments in writing to the Department of Marine Resources at 1141 Bayview Avenue, Biloxi, Mississippi 39530 and the Office of Pollution Control, Post Office Box 2261, Jackson, Mississippi 39225-2261 before 1:00 p.m. on the day February 27, 2012.

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