Citizen Action

Glynn - Public Works Department - Hutcheson Ditch Dredging - Written Comments Due By 11/11/06

PUBLIC NOTICE
October 12, 2006
Glynn County Public Works Department
Hutcheson Ditch Dredging
Glynn County, Georgia

Project Application
Project Description
Project Drawings
Project Photos

This serves as notification from the Coastal Marshlands Protection Committee and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources of a request from Glynn County Public Works Department for a Coastal Marshlands Protection Act (CMPA) permit under Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A.) 12-5-280 et seq., to perform maintenance dredging in a tidal drainage ditch in Buffalo Swamp off the Turtle River, Glynn County, Georgia.

The applicant proposes to perform maintenance dredging on a drainage ditch. Silt and woody debris will be removed from the ditch using a track backhoe. The backhoe will travel along an existing spoil berm the length of the channel. Mats will be used where marsh is encountered. An average depth of 2 feet will be excavated from 2,400 linear feet of an approximately 6,000-foot long ditch, reestablishing a total channel depth of approximately 7 feet. Excavated material will be placed along the western upland bank where possible. Where marsh is encountered, excavated material will be placed on the nearest upland. It is estimated that approximately 21,600 cubic yards will be excavated. The proposed dredging will impact approximately 0.68 acres of jurisdictional coastal marshlands.

Hutcheson Ditch runs along an easement granted to Glynn County by private property owner, Wayne Hutcheson. The applicant reports that the ditch is a major drainage outfall for a nine-mile area of Glynn County.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate that the project is not contrary to the public interest and that no feasible alternative sites exist. Impacts to coastal marshlands must be minimal in size. In passing upon the application for permit, the Coastal Marshlands Protection Committee shall consider the public interest: (1) Whether or not unreasonably harmful obstruction to or alteration of the natural flow of navigational water within the affected area will arise as a result of the proposal; (2) Whether or not unreasonably harmful or increased erosion, shoaling of channels, or stagnant areas of water will be created; and (3) Whether or not the granting of a permit and the completion of the applicants proposal will unreasonably interfere with the conservation of fish, shrimp, oysters, crabs, clams, or other marine life, wildlife, or other resources, including but not limited to water and oxygen supply.

A detailed public notice with drawings has been distributed and is available by visiting the Department of Natural Resources website: http://crd.dnr.state.ga.us/ under Permits and Public Notices.

Please provide this office with substantive, site-specific comments as to why the proposed work should or should not proceed. Comments and questions concerning this proposed project should be submitted in writing and be postmarked by November 11, 2006 to Lisia Kowalczyk, Department of Natural Resources, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31520.