CONCORD, Mass. – Washington West, LLC, located at 17 South Main Street, West Hartford, Conn., is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District to conduct work in waters of the U.S. in conjunction with discharging fill material for commercial development in Middletown, Conn.
This work is proposed in a tributary at Washington Street and Plaza Drive in Middletown.
The proposed work involves the discharge of fill material into 580 linear feet of stream to allow for commercial development. The proposed project consists of construction of 40,000 square feet of building space for three buildings, supplementary landscape improvements, parking and loading areas, a storm water management system and utility improvements.
The applicant has stated the following: "The site plan has been though a number of iterations and the current plan minimizes direct impacts to the large wetland system on site as well as provides a positive solution to the ongoing erosive condition in the existing stream. Impacts to waters of the U.S. will be compensated for by a combination of stream channel restoration and an in-lieu fee.” The Corps has not verified the adequacy of the applicant's avoidance and minimization statement at this time.
The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps in compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which regulates the discharge or fill of material in U.S. waters, including wetlands.
The public notice, with more specifics on the work proposed by Washington West, LLC, can be viewed on the Corps website at www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx.
Public comments on this work proposed by Washington West, LLC (file # NAE-2017-00897) should be forwarded no later than March 1, 2018 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Regulatory Division (ATTN: Mr. Taylor Bell), 696 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742-2751. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Taylor Bell at 978-318-8952 or toll free 800-343-4789 or 800-362-4367 (if calling from within Massachusetts) or by email to: taylor.m.bell@usace.army.mil.