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ACO Services

Opinion Letters

Opinion letters for telecommunication facility compounds can satisfy the archaeological portions of the NEPA requirements in areas where cellular phone tower compounds are to be constructed in heavily disturbed commercial and/or residential settings. Often telecommunications projects consist of mounting antennae on existing buildings and/or constructing equipment sheds on asphalt parking lots where a phase Ia archaeological survey would not be recommended. ACO writes several hundred of these letters every year.


Records Checks

Records checks can be conducted for all development projects. The goal of the records review is to identify all known cultural resources within a development tract. By identifying known archaeological sites within a development tract, the client is often able to avoid costly delays in multi-million dollar construction projects by having records researched. Sometimes the records review may indicate that no further archaeological assessment may be necessary. Sometimes a phase Ia archaeological field reconnaissance is recommended. Archaeological Records Reviews are conducted on every project including phase Ia surveys.


Phase Ia Field Reconnaissance

Approximately 200 field reconnaissance surveys are conducted every year by ACO personnel. A phase Ia survey consists of archaeologists systematically examining a development tract through on site inspection. All field survey is conducted in accordance with each State's specific archaeological guidelines as well as the U.S. Department of Interior's standards. Many phase Ia surveys often record cultural resources. Most cultural resources documented during a field reconnaissance are not considered significant and project development is allowed to continue unabated. Should a potentially significant archaeological site be located during a field reconnaissance, then phase II testing may be required.


Phase II Testing and Subsurface Reconnaisance.

In some cases where a potentially significant cultural resource cannot be avoided during the construction phase of a project or more intrusive archaeological sampling strategies may be required, ACO now conducts limited phase II testing and subsurface reconnaissance.