Industrial Development while Protecting an Endangered Species
After performing mussel studies and assessments, Stanley Consultants devised a solution for an industrial client to move their riverfront facilities, while protecting the endangered mussels.
The River/Gulf Grain Company had a conundrum. The City of Davenport had terminated the company's lease in order to develop riverfront green space. A new location on the Bettendorf, Iowa, riverfront provided ample room for growth but a large diverse mussel bed, harboring threatened and endangered species, was found at the proposed site.
The solution devised by Stanley Consultants was to locate the dock barges far from shore, well away from the mussel bed, and to re-configure the conveyor support structure layout. Iowa DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service were reluctant to permit construction of the facility. However, after two mussel studies were performed and a Biological Assessment prepared, the necessary permits were obtained. Eight, 36-inch diameter anchor piles, were drilled 10 feet into the river bottom for anchoring the barge dock. All mussels within a 10-foot diameter footprint at each anchor pile and bridge support pile were hand-collected (1,200 in all) and relocated to a nearby bed downstream.
In addition to the mussel studies and assessment, Stanley Consultants designed all of the river facilities for the project, and coordinated layout, construction and installation of the shore facilities as they related to permitting.