The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has announced the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Draft South Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Report (Draft Report) for South Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.
They also announced the opening of the window for the public to submit written comments on the matter.
With the passage of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013, the Army Corps has been given the authority and funding to complete ongoing coastal storm damage risk management projects and studies in the Northeast, including the Staten Island study.
New York District prepared a Draft Report, outlining coastal storm risk management elements recommended to be constructed for the Fort Wadsworth to Oakwood Beach Reach on Staten Island.
This DEIS is being prepared to evaluate the significance of potential environmental impacts of the proposed action.
Background
The proposed South Shore of Staten Island project calls for the construction of a Line of Protection (LOP) consisting of a buried seawall/armored levee along a majority of the Fort Wadsworth – Oakwood Beach reach (approximately 80%) serving as the first line of defense against severe coastal surge flooding and wave forces.
The remainder of the LOP would consist of a T-Type vertical floodwall, levee and in the Oakwood Beach area – a mosaic of habitats (tidal wetlands, maritime forest/scrub-shrub habitat, low marsh and high marsh acres of living shoreline).
In addition, the project calls for works for interior drainage, which would include tide gates, sluice gates, stormwater outfall structures, road raisings, and excavated ponds.
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