Maintenance Dredging Permit at Schroon Lake and Fire Pond

The Adirondack Lodges Homeowners Association, a vacation community of townhouse and single-family units located in Horicon, New York, was looking for a firm that could prepare and coordinate a Joint Permit Application for maintenance dredging of their boating access channel into Schroon Lake and their fire protection pond for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC).

LaBella was selected to prepare the applications for a USACE Individual Permit (10-year maintenance dredging) and for authorization by the NYSDEC (under ECL Article 15 (Protection of Waters). The boating channel begins on the west side of East Shore Drive into Schroon Lake and connects an inland docking area via Mill Creek into Schroon Lake. The fire pond provides access to a dry hydrant intake.

Our team visited the site to document site conditions and observed a lack of aquatic vegetation in the dredging and disposal locations, thus demonstrating that no permit was required from the Adirondack Park Agency. A determination of No Effect was obtained for cultural resources from New York’s State Office of Historic Preservation and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife consultation package addressing Section 7 regulations of the federal Endangered Species Act was developed.

We prepared plan sheets illustrating the proposed dredging and disposal plan, as well as environmental protection details, including turbidity curtains, erosion control, and dewatering plans. We also prepared a Short Environmental Assessment Form to support the NYSDEC’S review of the project. The application has been submitted to the state and federal regulatory agencies for completeness review.