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are feasible from a technical design, environmental, and economic prospective. The community- <br />specific criteria consider the impacts that the facility will have on the surrounding community. <br />This set of criteria underscores the priority that the public placed upon environmental justice <br />considerations; impact upon adjacent land use; proximity to schools, churches, and recreation sites; <br />and the number of residents impacted. Using weighted scoring based on these criteria, 242 <br />potential parcels were narrowed down to ten, which would undergo further consideration. Once <br />these were discussed further and public comments were heard, the sites for the transfer station <br />location were narrowed down to the Site 056 (Howell Property) or Site 759 (OWASA Property) by <br />the BOCC. Each site is being simultaneously negotiated for purchase by the County. However, <br />only one site will be purchased for transfer station use. Site 056 is the topic of this environmental <br />~. <br />3.1 <br />3.2 <br />assessment. <br />Site 056 was one of the two sites selected because it is undeveloped and heavily wooded, can be <br />directly accessed from NC Highway 54, and is freely offered. The site has minimal floodplain <br />and/or steep slope encumbrance; ample space for the construction of the transfer station facilities; <br />and further provides excellent buffering from adjacent land uses and residents. <br />XISTIIVG ENIi/IR®IViV1E1~T~-L 1F1~1 CTERISTICS ®1= P,R®JIECT REA <br />Topography <br />The site is flat to gently sloping and elevation ranges from approximately 540. feet to 562 feet <br />across the site with the construction of the transfer station to be at approximately 554 feet. See <br />Exhibit B.1 for the site's location within the USGS White Cross quadrangle. There are a few, small <br />areas of the site that have a slope greater than 10 percent. This information, along with detailed <br />elevation information regarding the site, was obtained from the 2007 North Carolina Department <br />of Transportation LiDAR Data Release, which are both displayed on Exhibit B.2. Using Orange <br />County's 2007 Flood Hazard Polygon information and Federal Emergency Management Agency <br />(FEMA) maps (FIlZMettes), it was determined that the site will not encroach on any floodplains. <br />See Exhibits C.1 and C.2 for copies of these FIRMettes. <br />Soils <br />According to information provided. by the Orange County Planning Department and the United <br />States Department of Agriculture's Web Soil Survey of Orange County, North Carolina, the site <br />location is comprised of the soils summarized in Table 1 below and shown in Exhibit D. <br />C <br /> <br />4 <br />Environmental Assessment <br />Site 056 <br />