Article Title

Intensive Archaeological Survey for the City of Midland Water Pollution Control Plant Rehabilitation Project

Authors

Melanie Johnson
Diana Garnett
Kristin Morgan

Agency

Texas Historical Commission

Abstract

The City of Midland is proposing to install a new 12-inch (in; 30.5-centimeter [cm]) water pipeline at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) located south of the intersection of IH 20 and Farm-to-Market (FM) 307 on the east side of the City of Midland in Midland County, Texas (Figure 1-1). This pipeline installation is part of the 2017 WPCP Rehabilitation Project. In advance of the proposed project, the City of Midland contracted HDR, Inc. (HDR) to conduct an intensive archaeological survey of the project area in order to be in compliance with Chapter 191 of the Texas Natural Resources Code, also known as the Antiquities Code of Texas (13 Texas Administrative Code [TAC] 26.12).

The Area of Potential Effects (APE) for this project is composed of the pipeline easement, which will be 0.22 mile (mi; 0.35 kilometer [km]) long and 50 feet (ft; 15 meters [m]) wide for a total of 1.33 acres (ac; 0.54 hectares [ha]). The depth of impacts will be 5–6 ft (1.5–1.8 m). Pipeline construction will include boring at waterway crossings.

The general purpose of the survey was to determine the presence/absence of archaeological resources within the APE as per the Antiquities Code of Texas (13 TAC 26.12) and to evaluate identified resources for their eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or as a designated State Antiquities Landmark (SAL). The archaeological survey was conducted under Texas Antiquities Permit Number 8175. The field effort was led by archaeology crew chief Melanie Johnson on October 17, 2017.

HDR conducted an intensive archaeological survey within the APE. A total of eight shovel tests were excavated during the survey. The soils encountered were typically deep with eroded limestone bedrock appearing on the west side of Midland Draw. All shovel tests were negative for cultural materials. No cultural materials were encountered during the investigation.

In accordance with 13 TAC 26.12, no further archaeological investigations are recommended, and construction may proceed. In the event that any archaeological deposits are encountered during construction, work should cease, and the Texas Historical Commission (THC) should be notified.

All records and materials generated by this project will be permanently curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies (CAS) at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License