Issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations for the Take of Marine Mammals Incidental to the Port of Alaska’s South Floating Dock in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Port of Alaska (POA) is modernizing its marine terminals through the Port of Alaska Modernization Program (PAMP). One of the first priorities of the PAMP is to replace the existing Petroleum Oil Lubricants Terminal with a new Petroleum Cement Terminal (PCT). Phase 1 of the PCT project is complete, but for Phase 2 of the project to advance, the existing South Floating Dock (SFD), a small multipurpose floating dock constructed in 2004, must be relocated south of the PCT near the southern portion of the South Backlands Stabilization project. The existing location of SFD will not allow docking operations at SFD once the PCT is constructed due to the close proximity of one of the PCT mooring dolphins. Therefore, it must be relocated.

Relocation of the SFD will include the removal of the existing structure, including the access trestle and gangway, and installation of twelve permanent 36-inch steel pipe piles: ten vertical and two battered. Construction of the SFD will also require the installation and vibratory removal of up to six 24- or 36-inch template piles. In total, the POA estimates this work will take approximately 21 hours over nine to 24 non-consecutive days.

The POA’s request is for take of a small number of six species of marine mammals by Level B harassment and Level A harassment. Neither the POA nor NMFS expects serious injury or mortality to result from this activity.