archeological survey the white cliffs ii...

aci consulting, a division of aci group, LLC

www.aci-consulting.net

aci consulting 1001 Mopac Circle Austin, TX 78746 512.347.9000 1550 Wewatta, Floor 2 Denver, CO 80202 720.440.5320

Key Services

Archeological Survey

Documentation of 13 Sites

NRHP Eligibility Recommendation

Coordination with SHPO & USACE

Clients

White Cliffs Pipeline, Southwest Geosci- ence, & USACE Location s

Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado

ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOR THE WHITE CLIFFS II PIPELINE

White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC, is proposing to

construct and operate the White Cliffs II

Pipeline, a 526-mile-long, twelve-inch-

diameter crude oil transportation pipeline

extending from Cushing, Oklahoma, through

western Kansas and terminating in Platte-

ville, Colorado. White Cliffs Pipeline and

Southwest Geoscience contracted with aci

to provide archeological services for this

project.

In January through March 2013, archeolo-

gists from aci consulting conducted pe-

destrian survey and shovel testing at USACE

jurisdictional waters. Archeologists exam-

ined 110 waters in Oklahoma, 70 waters in

Kansas, and 15 waters in Colorado. A total

of 13 new archeological sites was recorded,

two in Oklahoma, one in Kansas, and ten in

Colorado. In addition, four previously rec-

orded sites in Colorado were revisited. One

of the historic sites recorded in Colorado

was a historic farmstead that had been in

continuous occupation since at least the

1920s but had burned in 2012 and was set

to be bulldozed immediately following the

survey. This survey provided an opportunity

to record a site that otherwise would have

been completely destroyed and never docu-

mented.

Based on soils, stream types, floodplains,

and other factors, archeologists from aci

worked with USACE and the SHPOs from

each state to develop a probability model

that would ensure the jurisdictional waters

with the highest likelihood of retaining in-

tact archeological deposits were surveyed

while eliminating from the survey list waters

where archeological deposits were highly

unlikely.