A Cultural Resource Survey Of A Fiber Optic Line Route And Site Updates Across Fort Bliss El Paso County Texas And Otero County New Mexico PDF Download

Between November 30 and December 6, 1995, archeologists and a biologist from Geo-Marine, Inc. (GMI), El Paso, Texas, conducted an intensive cultural and natural resources survey of 11.8 km (7.3 mi) of proposed pipeline corridor for the Diamond Shamrock Company of Roswell, New Mexico under Contract No. 3030, Delivery order No. 1 between GMI and Diamond Shamrock. Approximately 0.7 km (0.43 mi) of this corridor lies on Texas State Trust Land (Antiquities Permit No. 1699) with the remaining segment all on the Fort Bliss Military Reservation. The proposed corridor is 30m (100 ft) wide, and begins at the Diamond Shamrock Terminal Complex located east of Loop 375 and north of Montana Avenue. The proposed right-of-way (ROW) proceeds west of the terminal, paralleling an existing 345 kv transmission line, and crosses Loop 375 at which point it parallels the highway on the west side until intersecting an existing pipeline. An alternate route on the east side of Loop 375 paralleling the north side of the 345 kv powerlines was also surveyed. Additionally, two 100 x 300 ft areas were surveyed. One of these areas is located along the fenceline where the ROW crosses Loop 375. The other area is located on the northwest end of the survey ROW. Approximately 36.4 total ha (90 acres) were surveyed for this project: 32.2 ha (79.6 acres) on Fort Bliss and 4.2 ha (10.4 acres) of Texas State Trust Land. One previously unrecorded site was recorded and six previously recorded sites were updated during the current survey. Four sites are considered ineligible (FB 7018, FB 10421, FB 10547, and FB 9763) for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) because the information potential and the contextual integrity of these resources does not meet any of the NRHP criteria. In addition, previously recorded site FB 9763 has been extensively tested by O'Laughlin and Martin (1989) and the current survey data supports this conclusion. Three sites are considered eligible (FB 128, FB 7017, and FB 7085) for inclusion to the NRHP, based on Criterion D. It is recommended that the three eligible sites be avoided during construction of the proposed pipeline. To insure avoidance procedures, and because of the potential for buried cultural remains, monitoring of the entire length of the excavation by a qualified archeologist is recommended. Monitoring procedures have been approved by the proponent and the Fort Bliss Archeologist.