REQUESTER: Metro Water Services
AFFECTED PROJECT: Cheatham Lock and Dam was authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act approved July 24,1946 (House Document No. 761, 79th Congress, 2nd Session) to provide a navigable river channel on the Cumberland River. The project is part of a comprehensive plan for the development of the Cumberland River and its tributaries in Kentucky and Tennessee. Additional authorization on June 19, 1952 (Public Law 396, 82nd Congress, 2nd Session) provided for the production of hydroelectric power as a project function.
LOCATION(S): Omohundro Water Treatment Plant: 1400 Pumping Station Road, Nashville, TN 37210
(Latitude: 36.1643, Longitude: -86.7260)
(See Exhibit A)
K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plant: 3181 Heartland Drive, Nashville, TN 37214
(Latitude: 36.1922, Longitude: -86.6637)
PROPOSED ALTERATION: The proposed alteration to the USACE project would be an increase in combined daily water withdrawal within the USACE project to 176 million gallons per day (MGD) for the Omohundro and K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plants. The existing maximum withdrawals have ranged between 120-138 MGD for the last five years. The proposed alteration is associated with process improvements at the Omohundro Water Treatment Plant that include the construction of new raw water intake, new raw water pumping facility, new pretreatment facility, new filtration facility, new chemical feed facility, new granular activated carbon contactors, and new high service pumping facility (proposed work). The requestor is also updating interior facilities at K.R. Harrington. (See Exhibit B, Sheets 1-2)
Interested parties are hereby notified that a request has been received for permission for the activity described herein and as shown on the attached drawings. You are invited to provide your comments on the proposed work by the expiration date, which will become part of the administrative record and will be considered in the decision.
Written comments should be emailed to the Nashville District Section 408 Coordinator at LRN.408@usace.army.mil.
AUTHORITY:
This request will be reviewed according to the provisions of Section 14 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (33 U.S.C. 408), and the policy and procedural guidance in Engineer Circular 1165-2-220 and the Regional Categorical Permission for Section 408 Requests for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Ohio River Division.
EVALUATION FACTORS:
Proposed alterations are assessed to determine impacts to the usefulness of the USACE Project. The objective of this determination is to ensure that the proposed alteration will not limit the ability of the USACE project to function as authorized and will not compromise or change any authorized project conditions, purposes or outputs. All appropriate technical analyses including geotechnical, structural, hydraulic and hydrologic, real estate, construction, and operations and maintenance requirements, will be conducted, and the technical adequacy of the design will be reviewed.
Proposed alterations will also be reviewed to determine the probable impacts, including cumulative impacts, on the public interest. Evaluation of the probable impacts that the proposed alteration to the USACE project may have on the public interest requires a careful weighing of all those factors that are relevant in each individual case. The benefits that reasonably may be expected to accrue from the proposal must be compared against its reasonably foreseeable detriments. Factors that may be relevant to the public interest depend upon the type of USACE project being altered and may include, but are not limited to, such things as conservation, economic development, historic properties, cultural resources, environmental impacts, water supply, water quality, flood hazards, floodplains, residual risk, induced damages, navigation, shore erosion or accretion, and recreation.
The Corps of Engineers is also soliciting comments from the public, Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and other interested parties in order to consider and evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed activity. Once this office completes a review of the comments received, it will be determined whether to issue, modify, condition, or deny a permission for this proposal.
To prepare this decision, comments are taken into consideration to assess impacts on the public interest factors listed above, as well as endangered species, historic properties, water quality, and general environmental effects.
PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF SELECTED FACTORS:
THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES:
Based on information provided by the applicant and coordination between the Corps Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Corps has determined that the proposed activity would have no effect on any federally-listed endangered or threatened species or critical habitat for any endangered or threatened species, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). Therefore, consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act does not appear to be warranted at this time.
HISTORIC PROPERTIES/CULTURAL RESOURCES:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency for determining compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). As lead federal agency, EPA determined that the proposed work would have an adverse effect to historic properties. The listed historic properties being adversely effected include, the Omohundro Water Treatment Filtration Complex District (Omohundro District), (NR# 87000380) which is a part of the multiple property Omohundro Waterworks System nomination (NR# 64000818). As lead federal agency, EPA mitigated the adverse effects to historic properties through the development and execution of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) (RESOLUTION NO. RS2024-229) between EPA, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, through Department of Water and Sewerage Services, and the Tennessee Historical Commission for Process Advancements at Omohundro Water Treatment Plant, Davidson County, Tennessee. The USACE has signed this agreement as a Concurring Party.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT:
A preliminary determination has been made that an environmental impact statement is not required for the proposed work.