CONCORD, Mass. – The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, located at One National Life Drive, Davis Building, 6th Floor, Montpelier, Vermont, 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 creating an artificial reef in Burlington Bay of Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont.
The proposed work involves creating an artificial reef site by sinking the Ferry Adirondack in Burlington Bay of Lake Champlain. The car ferry Adirondack is 152 feet long, 42 feet in beam and 43 feet from keel to the top of the smokestack.
The proposed plan is to sink the vessel in 68 feet of water which would leave its smokestack a minimum of 25 feet below the horizontal plane of mean low water. The Adirondack will be prepared for sinking in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Maritime Administration guidance document "National Guidance: Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs" dated "May 2006."
Six temporary 3,500-pound concrete anchors will be used during the sinking of the ferry to eliminate drifting and sinking in an unintended location. The anchors and lines will be recovered after the vessel is on the lake bottom. Two mooring buoys will be attached directly to the vessel. Lake Champlain Transportation Company is donating the Ferry Adirondack to the applicant for the purpose of enhancing the Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve site.
The purpose of the proposed project is to create an additional underwater dive site to improve recreational opportunities in Lake Champlain and create fish habitat. The application for the federal permit was filed with the Corps in compliance with Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, which provides for federal regulation of any work in, or affecting navigable waters of the U.S. The public notice, with more specifics on the work proposed by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, can be viewed on the Corps website at https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/PublicNotices/.
Public comments on this work proposed by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (file # NAE-2017-002986) should be forwarded no later than April 16, 2020 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Vermont Project Office (ATTN: Michael Adams), 11 Lincoln Street, Room 210, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Additional information is available from Permit Project Manager Michael Adams at 802-872-2893 or toll free 800-343-4789 or 800-362-4367 (if calling from within Massachusetts) or by email to: michael.s.adams@usace.army.mil.