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Texas Historical Commission
Abstract
Perennial Environmental Services, LLC (Perennial) on behalf of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco), a subsidiary of Williams Gas Pipeline, conducted an intensive cultural resources survey of the proposed RL01-MLA (MLV 10A60 to MLV 20A5) – Minor Mods Project (Project) located within Jim Wells County, Texas. The proposed Project includes one temporary workspace, which will be utilized for spoil storage and equipment staging as Transco modifies an existing aboveground facility.
Transco’s existing natural gas pipeline system is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Consistent with the FERC permitting requirements and in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), the proposed Project must make a reasonable and good faith effort to identify historic properties within the Project APE and to take into account any direct or indirect impacts that the proposed undertaking could have on properties listed or considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The overall area of potential effects (APE) for the Project totals 0.43 acres (ac) (0.18 hectares [ha]) with depths of impact (DOI) extending to less than one foot. The Project APE is considered coterminous with the extent of the Project survey area.
Perennial field personnel assessed the entirety of the Project survey area during the course of the Phase I investigation. Heidi Shaw served as the Principal Investigator (PI) for the Project, while field work was completed by staff archaeologist Colene Knaub on October 26, 2017. The Phase I survey was designed to inventory and assess cultural resources across the entirety of the Project APE. Archaeological investigations were conducted in accordance with Section 106 of the NHPA and the THC and Council of Texas Archeologists (CTA) survey standards, which included intensive pedestrian survey augmented by strategic shovel testing within the temporary workspace. No cultural resources were encountered as a result of the survey efforts either on the surface or within the one shovel test excavated within the Project survey area.
Based on the results of the survey efforts, no historic properties will be affected by any construction activities within the Project survey areas. In accordance with Section 106 of the NHPA (36 CFR 800), and the guidelines set forth by the THC and CTA, it is Perennial’s opinion that no further cultural resources investigations are warranted for the proposed Project.
Should historic properties and/or human remains be encountered during construction, work in the immediate area will cease and a qualified archaeologist will be called to evaluate the finding(s) and provide recommendations for how to manage the resource under the State Historic Preservation Plan. All findings will be reported to, and activities coordinated with, the appropriate interested parties. In the event that human remains are encountered, all activity that might disturb the remains shall cease, and may not resume until authorized by appropriate law enforcement, and/or the THC.
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