Article Title

Bryson Offsite Project Cultural Resource Survey Report

Authors

Casey Hanson

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

Atmos Energy Corporation (Atmos) contracted Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc. (Burns & McDonnell) to perform a records review and archaeological pedestrian survey for the Bryson Offsite Project (Project), a natural gas pipeline installation in the city of Leander, Williamson County, Texas (Appendix A: Figure A1). The following report provides information regarding the proposed Project and includes the results of the cultural resources background review and the methods and results of the archaeological survey. The report is presented in the short report format developed by the Council of Texas Archaeologists (CTA) for small projects with no findings (CTA 2015).

Atmos Energy Corporation (Atmos) is proposing to install approximately 4 miles (6.4 kilometers [km]) of 8-inch poly main line for carrying natural gas to a new subdivision in northern Leander, Texas (Project; Appendix A: Figures A2 and A3). The right-of- way (ROW) for the Project ranges from 20 - 50 feet wide (6 - 15 m), and construction activities will include both open-cut and boring methods with anticipated impacts reaching a maximum depth of 5 - 8 feet (1.5 – 2.5 m) below surface.

No Federal funding, licensing, or permitting is required for the Project, and as a result, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) does not apply. However, portions of the Project are located within publicly owned ROW paralleling paved County Road 269 (Hero Way), County Road 270, and San Gabriel Parkway. Additionally, a portion of the Project extends north of San Gabriel Parkway and will follow a previously cleared, publicly owned, transmission line ROW. Due to ownership of portions of the ROW by political subdivisions of the State (the city of Leander and Williamson County), the Antiquities Code of Texas applies within these sections of the Project. The publicly owned sections total approximately 3 miles (5 km) (Appendix A: Figures A2 and A3).

Burns & McDonnell submitted a SHPO Consultation Form on March 3, 2015 requesting guidance from the THC on which portions of the Project require a cultural resources survey. The THC issued comments on March 20, 2015 and recommended that the 0.75-mile (1.20 km) section of the Project currently owned by the city of Leander and the 1.09-miles (1.75 km) of proposed ROW located on private lands north of San Gabriel Parkway should be surveyed (Project Area; Appendix A: Figures A4 and A5; Appendix C: THC Coordination).

Burns & McDonnell archaeologists performed a background review for the entire Project Area prior to initiating fieldwork. Burns & McDonnell archaeologists conducted the pedestrian survey of the 0.75-mile section of the Project located along the transmission line ROW, north of San Gabriel Parkway and currently owned by the city of Leander, on May 19, 2015 under TAC Permit 7283 (Appendix B). The following report provides the results of the background review and cultural resources survey for this section of the Project. Because private lands are not subject to the Antiquities Code of Texas, this report does not include the results of the 1.09-miles (1.75 km) of proposed ROW located on private lands north of San Gabriel Parkway, and this area is not discussed further in this report.

No previously recorded archaeological sites or designated historic resources were identified within the Project Area during the background review, and no new archaeological sites were recorded during the archaeological survey. Burns & McDonnell recommends no further evaluation of the Project Area.

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