Cultural Resource Investigations - Neal Shoals Hydroelectric Project
Chester and Union Counties, South Carolina

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requires applicants for new licenses or renewal of existing licenses to identify significant archaeological and historical resources within project boundaries and to develop plans for long-term management of such resources. The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger) has assisted South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) with the proposed relicensing of its Neal Shoals Hydroelectric facility, located along the Broad River in Chester and Union counties, South Carolina. Berger assisted the utility by completing cultural resource investigations and by preparing a cultural resource management plan for significant resources located within the project area.

Berger’s initial survey, begun in 1994 included background research, pedestrian reconnaissance, and archaeological and historical identification and subsurface testing. In addition, a geomorphological study was undertaken to document the present soil conditions in the project area and to determine the potential for locating intact buried deposits of cultural material. One previously recorded site had been determined to be eligible for the National Register. Based on Berger’s survey, five additional sites also were recommended as eligible. Berger also conducted a Phase I survey, consisting of pedestrian reconnaissance and subsurface testing, of a proposed shoreline stabilization project that involved the reconstruction of a section of eroded bank immediately downstream (south) of the dam abutment walls, located in Chester County, South Carolina. The stabilization project was found to have no effect on any known archaeological sites and no further work was recommended.

Berger currently is preparing a Cultural Resources Management Plan (CRMP) for the Neal Shoals Hydroelectric Project, which will serve as a practical guide for SCE&G personnel in understanding and meeting their cultural resource responsibilities. The draft CRMP will be finalized in 2001. Berger has also prepared a document for public distribution which outlines the significant historic and archaeological resources within the Neal Shoals project area.