Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
property accrue a monetary reward or usage fee for property owners for allowing
the presence of turbines on their land. This view is typically different for residents
who do not reap an economical benefit from the presence of wind turbines in their
backyards.
Impacts on aviation could be possible if the project is located within 20,000 feet
(6100 meters) or less of an existing public or military airport, or if the proposed
construction involves objects that are greater than 200 feet (61 meters) in height.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must be notified if either of these two
conditions occurs, and the FAA would be responsible for determining if the proj-
ect would adversely affect commercial, military, or personal air navigation safety.
Similarly, impacts on military operations could occur if a project was located near
a military facility if that facility conducts low-altitude military testing and training
activities.
s
oils
And
g
eologiC
r
esourCes
Sands, gravels, and quarry stone would be excavated for construction access roads;
for concrete for buildings, substations, transformer pads, foundations, and other
ancillary structures; and for improving ground surfaces for laydown areas and crane
staging areas. Possible geological hazards such as landslides could be activated by
excavation and blasting for raw materials, increasing slopes during site grading and
construction of access roads, altering natural drainage patterns, and toe-cutting
bases of slopes. Altering drainage patterns could also accelerate erosion and create
slope instability. Surface disturbance, heavy equipment traffic, and changes to sur-
face runoff patterns could cause soil erosion and impacts on special soils (e.g., cryp-
tobiotic soils). Impacts of soil erosion could include soil nutrient loss and reduced
water quality in nearby surface water bodies.
p
AleontologiCAl
r
esourCes
Impacts on paleontological resources could occur directly from the construction
activities or indirectly from soil erosion and increase accessibility to fossil locations.
Potential impacts include the following:
•
Complete destruction of the resource could occur if present in areas under-
going surface disturbance or excavation.
•
Degradation or destruction of near-surface fossil resources on- and offsite
could result from changes in topography, changes in hydrological patterns,
and soil movement (removal, erosion, sedimentation). (Note that the accu-
mulation of sediment could serve to protect some locations by increasing
the amount of protective cover.)
•
Unauthorized removal of fossil resources or vandalism to the site could
occur as a result of increased human access to previously inaccessible areas
if significant paleontological resources are present.
