Final Environmental Impact Report - Whittier Bridge/I-95 ...

Whittier Bridge/I-95 Improvement Project FEIR
Chapter 2.0: Response to Comments on the Environmental Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Report
standards for the specific resource area impacted. As part of the NOI review, MassDOT will need to specify the
riverfront area mitigation or restoration to be provided on a square footage basis. Local conservation commissions
will need to apply the restoration standard at 310 CMR 10.58(5)(1), and the stormwater management standards
established at 310 CMR 10.58(5)(b) as part of its Riverfront Area findings.
Response: Impacts to RFA in Newburyport and Amesbury and BVW in Amesbury will be
appropriately mitigated in full compliance with the Wetlands Protection Act. Section 1.4.4 includes
updated information on the RFA mitigation and restoration measures.
DEP-5: The proponent is obligated to provide detailed plans of BVW replacement areas to the issuing authority,
including groundwater elevation information conducted in accordance with the MassDEP March 2002,
Massachusetts Inland Replication Guidelines, to demonstrate that the site could support the proposed Replacement
Area designs.
Response: MassDOT has submitted additional details to the Amesbury Conservation Commission
on the proposed BVW mitigation area to supplement the Amesbury NOI filing. The wetland
mitigation plan has been revised to incorporate the revisions. The revised wetland mitigation plan is
described in section 1.4.5. Groundwater elevations will be monitored throughout 2012 and will be
used to develop the final wetland mitigation construction plans by the design/build contractor.
DEP-5A: It is MassDEP's experience that leaving the details of replacement area design to construction is not
adequate to ensure a successful replacement area.
Response: The design of the wetland mitigation area has been advanced. Details on the proposed
mitigation site are included in section 1.4.5
DEP-6: While Bartlett Spring Pond and its tributaries are not currently listed in the tables of the Surface Water Quality
Standards (314 CMR 4.06 (5) as a Class A/Outstanding Resource Water (ORW), pursuant to 314 CMR 4.04(1),
Antidegradation Provisions, its existing use as a public drinking water supply and the level of water quality necessary
to protect the existing uses must be protected and maintained because protection of public water supply is an interest
of the Wetlands Protection Act. Stormwater regulatory standard 6 (310 CMR 10.05(6)(k)(6) and 314 CMR
9.06(6)(a)(6) prohibiting stormwater discharges to Zone A must also be met. Further, no stormwater BMPs are
allowed within the Zone A unless essential to operation of a public water supply.
Response: The existing western edge of the I-95 southbound roadway will remain in its current
location and the project will not result in additional impervious surface within 400 feet of Bartlett
Spring Pond. The widening of I-95 southbound in this area will be within the existing highway
median. The proposed stormwater management system in Newburyport, like the existing stormwater
collection system, will be a closed system ultimately discharging to the Merrimack River outside the
Zone A of Bartlett Springs Pond. No portion of the drainage system or any stormwater BMPs will be
located within the Zone A.
DEP-6A: The FEIR should demonstrate that the road complies with 310 CMR 22.20B and C provisions, and with the
applicable stormwater regulatory standards specified at 310 CMR 10.05(6)(k)(I-10) and 314 CMR 9.06(6)(a)(1-10).
Even if the proposed road is to be constructed from gravel, the following regulations apply: 310 CMR 10.05(6)(k)(1),
(2), (4 - source control provision),(6), (8), (9), and (10).
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