BPA plans work near Clark Fork

CLARK FORK — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking public comment on a Bonneville Power Administration project to improve access to its 230-kilovolt transmission line south of town.

The work involves the construction and repair of a little more than four miles of access road, the construction of four work pads around high-power line towers and replacement of the Derr Island Bridge. The work would ease year-round access to its Lancaster/Noxon transmission line, according to BPA.

The administration plans to replace the Derr Island Bridge with a 53-foot railroad flatcar supported by precast concrete block sill abutments and armored with 70 cubic yards of rip-rap to ward off erosion.

All together, the construction will require the addition of 9,827 cubic yards of fill material, which will impact 4.71 acres of palustrine emergent and scrub-shrub wetlands adjacent to Derr Creek.

BPA purchased credits from the Valencia Wetland Mitigation Bank near Priest River, although the proposed mitigation is still being reviewed by the corps. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality is still evaluating whether to certify that the discharges of the dredged and fill material meets water quality standards.

The applicant proposes construction to start in September and expects to finish in October 2011.

The deadline to submit comments is Sept. 7.

Comments on the project should be directed to corps’ Coeur d’Alene Regulatory Office, 2065 West Riverstone Dr., Suite 201, Coeur d’Alene, ID. 83814.

Comments on water quality certification should be sent to IDEQ at 2110 Ironwood Parkway, Coeur d’Alene, ID. 83814.