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Norwich wetlands commission approves temporary geotechnical borings for Akam Way site
Summary
The IWWCC voted unanimously to allow temporary borings and test pits at 432 Canterbury Turnpike and 180 Lawler Lane to inform engineering for a proposed warehouse, finding the work "not a significant activity" and attaching staff-recommended erosion-control measures.
The IWWCC (Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission) unanimously approved temporary geotechnical borings and test pits for lots 10 and 11 of Akam Way — listed as 432 Canterbury Turnpike and 180 Lawler Lane — to support design of a proposed warehouse, the commission determined at a special meeting.
Brian Carey of LandTech, speaking for NCDC, told the commission the proposed work is limited to subsurface exploration and "all of the proposed borings are temporary in nature." He said disturbed areas would be raked, overseeded and protected with silt fence where needed.
Brian McCann of Sable Schallenberg, land-use counsel for NCDC, said the submission proposed roughly "90 borings and 70 test pits" to characterize soils, bedrock depth and groundwater for future infrastructure design. He described test pits as about 4 by 8 feet and 5–10 feet deep, and said borings would be taken with an approximately 8‑inch auger to refusal or bedrock. McCann added the project team plans to use a TerraMat ground protection system in upland review areas to minimize soil disturbance.
Commissioners asked whether the borings would cross wetlands and how work would be accessed. The applicants said some borings are proposed within wetland areas but they do not intend to "cross" wetlands and will limit intrusions, using Lawler Lane for entrance and egress where possible. Carey estimated field work would take about a week to a week and a half, weather permitting, and said both test pits and auger holes would be backfilled promptly as operations proceed; piezometers were not expected except possibly a single monitoring point if needed.
After discussion, the commission first voted to find IWCC 26-04 was not a significant activity under the commission’s rules. It then moved to approve IWCC 26-04 along with the memorandum from staff and the staff-recommended erosion-control conditions; the chair waived reading the conditions into the record. The motions passed unanimously.
The record states the commission’s reason for approval is that the proposed erosion-control protections and temporary-restoration measures are adequate to protect wetlands and adjacent areas during the planned borings and test pits. No permit conditions beyond those in the staff memorandum were added at the meeting. The commission adjourned with no further business that evening.
