Posted on October 5, 2026
The USACE-Norfolk District has prepared a draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment to assess the potential impacts for work described below:
LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED WORK: The Nansemond River Western Branch Federal Navigation Channel (NRWB FNC) is within the Nansemond River tidal estuary in Suffolk, Virginia, and is a tributary of the James River. The Western Branch Confined Upland Placement Site (WBCUPS) is in Suffolk, Virginia.
PROPOSED WORK AND PURPOSE: The Proposed Action consists of maintenance dredging the FNC to -6 ft MLLW. A maximum dredging depth of -10 ft MLLW accounting for up to 4 feet of paid and non-paid overdepth consistent with the USACE policy for paid allowable overdepth (i.e., 2 feet) and federal technical guidance for non-pay allowable overdepth for mechanical dredging (i.e., 2 feet). The channel is 80 feet wide and approximately 1 mile long. Dredging would be conducted by hydraulic cutterhead dredge, Government-owned special purpose dredges (i.e., Currituck and Murden), or mechanical dredge with dredged material to be disposed of at WBCUPS. Dredged material would be hydraulically conveyed (e.g., pumped) via pipeline from the scow into WBCUPS. Future maintenance cycles are estimated to occur every 10 – 15 years with an estimated volume of 20,000 cy of maintenance dredged material each cycle.
Dredged material placement from future maintenance cycles is expected to be placed at the WBCUPS.
Staging areas for construction would include the existing upland placement site and marine based staging (i.e. barges). Temporary construction access would be required for placement of the hydraulic pipeline between the channel and the placement site.
SCOPE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: Under the requirements of Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this proposed project constitutes a major federal action, and an SEA is therefore required. This SEA has been prepared pursuant to NEPA and its implementing regulations.
The purpose of this SEA is to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts associated with maintenance dredging operations within the NRWB FNC and placement of dredged material at WBCUPS. The scope of dredging for the Deep Creek Navigation Channel has not changed since the 1975 EA, this SEA will update the assessment of the impacts related to dredging and assess the impacts related to dredged material placement at the WBCUPS, which was not included in the original EA.
The draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment is being coordinated with the following agencies:
- American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP)
- Delaware Nation, Oklahoma
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency (USFWS)
- Nansemond Indian Nation
- NOAA – National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
- Pamunkey Indian Tribe
- Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (VDCR)
- Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ)
- Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR)
- Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR)
- Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
- Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC)
ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTATION: The environmental impacts of the Nansemond River Western Branch Federal Navigation Channel maintenance dredging have been evaluated in NEPA and regulatory documents including the Final Environmental Assessment dated 1975 and the draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment that is detailed in this public notice. These documents will conclude the environmental documentation for the maintenance dredging of the Nansemond River Western Branch Federal Navigation Channel and dredge material placement at the Western Branch Confined Upland Placement Site.
COMMENT PERIOD: Comments on this draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment should be by email (Laura.E.Bennett@usace.army.mil) or in writing, addressed to the Norfolk District, Corps of Engineers (ATTN: CENAO-WRO-T (Bennett)), 803 Front Street, Norfolk, Virginia 23510-1096, and should be received by the close of business on November 1, 2011.
PRIVACY & CONFIDENTIALITY: Comments and information, including the identity of the submitter, submitted in response to this Public Notice may be disclosed, reproduced, and distributed at the discretion of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Information that is submitted in connection with this Public Notice cannot be maintained as confidential by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions should not include any information that the submitter seeks to preserve as confidential.
