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34 <br /> INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM <br /> TO: Gene Bell , Planner III <br /> FROM: Paul Thames, County Engineer <br /> DATE: January 3, 1990 <br /> SUBJECT: Updated Environmental Impact Assessment for widening I-85 <br /> at Ef l and <br /> As per your request , I am providing a memo based on my review of <br /> the above referenced document , which was received in this office <br /> as of December 19 , 1989 . The referenced document was generated by <br /> the N.C. Department of Transportation as a supplement to the <br /> original Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of March 1984 for <br /> the widening of I-85 between Greensboro and Durham. The original <br /> EIA resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI ) ; the <br /> updated EIA has also resulted in a FONSI . <br /> In terms of the water quality in Seven Mile Creek, the original <br /> and the latest FONSI 's result from several assumptions. The <br /> primary assumption is that , because the waters of Seven Mile and <br /> the upper Eno basin are classified WS-III ( low quality water <br /> supply waters suitable for secondary recreational purposes <br /> [fishing, boating, etc. ] ) , little damage or lessening of water <br /> quality will result from the construction activities of DOT or <br /> from future runoff characteristics of the improved roadway. The <br /> secondary assumptions are: 1 ) the Orange County HazMat response <br /> team can protect the watershed against highway spills of <br /> chemicals; 2) construction phase erosion control measures can <br /> adequately protect the watershed against sedimentation during <br /> construction; 3 ) the original FONSI anticipated the ultimate <br /> development of I-85 as an eight lane roadway with six lanes <br /> constructed initially with the remaining two lanes being <br /> constructed by widening into the median (the original FONSI was <br /> approved by the Federal Highway Administration as required by law, <br /> therefore there were no legally significant environmental impacts <br /> at the time of the original FONSI and there are no legally <br /> significant impacts now) ; 4) grassed shoulders and roadway slopes <br /> would catch a majority of surface contaminants that would be <br /> carried from the roadway surface by normal rainfall and stormwater <br /> runoff events. <br /> DOT typically does not consider the environmental impacts of <br />