Posted on June 24, 2024
The City of Nome has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to significantly expand the laydown area at the Cape Nome jetty, adjacent to the Sound Quarry, a Bering Straits Native Corporation subsidiary.
The stated purpose of the expansion is to “increase the needed area available to stage equipment and scales, sort, weigh and stockpile rock materials for supplying projects with construction aggregate materials throughout the northwest region.”
The area to be filled on both the east and west side of the existing jetty comprises a total of 18.1 acres, including filling about 12.3 acres of tidal waters to construct the two pads.
According to Joy Baker, Port of Nome project manager, the City of Nome is the owner of the Cape Nome jetty and therefore submits all permitting applications. The City also facilitates most maintenance through the operator, namely Bering Straits Native Corporation, she said.
BSNC Associate Communications Director Ana Grayson said in an email to the Nugget that BSNC supports improvements in general, including the expansion of the laydown area for rock. The timeline is dependent on permit approval, but they are hoping to start this fall or next spring on this improvement.
As the Port of Nome will see a massive expansion project to start next year, it is assumed that the armor rock for the expanded causeway will come from the Cape Nome quarry.
“The intent of having the pads right now is to support the Port of Nome project by providing for additional rock storage at Cape Nome,” said Grayson. “The winning contractor may decide to utilize the space differently but this is the plan right now.”
Asked about who will bear the costs of the laydown expansion, Baker said that project costs are not yet available and that BSNC will bear the costs, not the City.
Last year, an expansion of the jetty at Cape Nome was in the planning but Baker said those two projects are not connected. The laydown pad project is separate from the planned jetty expansion, which has been put off for the time being, she said.
The jetty at Cape Nome has been battered by consecutive storms in the last few years and is being repaired with FEMA funds. “FEMA is in their last round of reviews of the bid docs and design package, which we hope to receive very soon,” Baker said. “Once a funding agreement is signed, the project will be bid out, awarded and constructed – fingers crossed, within the 2024 season.”
Asked if there will be revenue captured from the expanded facilities at Cape Nome, Baker said that “port revenue from the Cape has been minimal over the years, driven only by loading/offloading of equipment and materials that are not part of the quarry operation. The City is currently in discussions with BSNC regarding future operations and agreements at the facility, so no projections have been made.”
The Army Corps is soliciting public comment on the permit application. The comment period opened June 12 and will close July 12, 2024. For more information contact the Corps’ project manager Tyler Marye at (907)753-5778, or 1-800-478-2712 or email him at Tyler.J.Maryea@usace.army.mil
