A power and energy infrastructure firm engaged ECT to provide energy storage due diligence and tribal coordination for a standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) with a total nameplate capacity of 1,200 megawatt-hours (MWh), located on 43 acres of privately owned land in Clay County, Missouri. The project required a pedestrian survey by Tribal Cultural Resources Specialists (TCS) to identify and document Sites of Religious and Cultural Significance to Tribes (SRCSTT) within the project area. This allowed the client to account for cultural resource constraints ahead of construction planning.
A controlled pedestrian survey of the entire project area was conducted in accordance with the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office’s Guidelines for Phase I Archaeological Surveys and Reports. Throughout the survey, ECT maintained a daily log documenting avoidance recommendations and spatial boundary data, and issued SRCSTT notifications within 24 hours of identification, giving the client real-time visibility into findings rather than waiting on a final report to understand potential constraints.
No precontact or historic period sites of religious or cultural significance to Tribes were identified within the project area. With no significant cultural resource constraints identified, ECT’s findings allowed the client to proceed with site development on schedule. Beyond fieldwork, ECT compiled avoidance recommendations and survey data into a comprehensive dataset for long-term use in project planning, giving the client documentation to reference throughout permitting and construction. Weekly progress updates throughout the survey further supported the client’s ability to coordinate scheduling and plan confidently around the project’s cultural resource findings.