NAME OF APPLICANT: America Homeland, LLC, c/o D&S Environmental Services, Inc., Post Office Box 510, French Settlement, Louisiana 70733.
LOCATION OF WORK: Within the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, in the Amite River hydrologic unit (HUC 08070202); located adjacent to and northeast of Louisiana Highway 30, approximately 0.5 mile northwest of its intersection with Bayou Paul Lane, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in Iberville Parish.
CHARACTER OF WORK: The applicant has requested authorization to clear, grade, and fill a 143-acre site to allow for construction of a 463-lot subdivision (Riverstone Subdivision), with pertinent houses, driveways, and green space to accommodate each residence, common areas, four storm water detention ponds with pertinent discharge outfalls, a sewer treatment plant and ingress/egress access. Material excavated to construct the proposed detention ponds will be spread onsite. Approximately 1,580 linear feet of jurisdictional waters will be filled as a result of the proposed activity. The water currently conveyed by these waters will be diverted to new drainage swales and infrastructure within the subdivision. Approximately 72,884.3 cubic yards of earthen material, 3,676.59 cubic yards of soil cement base, 2,622.1 cubic yards of concrete, and 324.53 cubic yards of Asphaltic concrete will be deposited on-site. Project implementation will impact 8.4 acres of forested wetlands and 2.25 acres of jurisdictional waters.
According to the applicant, their goal was to design the subdivision to avoid all impacts to jurisdictional wetlands and waters. The applicant stated that avoidance of wetlands was not possible and would deem the project impractical because of the distribution of wetland/water resources, property dimensions, lack of expendable property, engineering constraints, and parish requirements. To minimize impacts to adjacent properties, the applicant will implement best management practices (BMP’s), including silt fencing, hay bales, seeding, sediment check dams, etc., during and after construction to prevent erosion and degradation of water quality on-site and on-adjacent properties. After construction is complete, earthen material will be graded and seeded with the appropriate perennial mixture to help prevent erosion, turbidity, and degradation of water quality. To compensate for unavoidable wetland impacts, the applicant proposes to purchase wetland credits from a Corps approved mitigation bank located in the watershed.