Archaeological Testing within the St. Mary's Hospital Site (AZ AA:16:26 [ASM]), Tucson, Arizona

Summary

This report contains the results of archaeological testing at the St. Mary’s Hospital Site (AZ AA:16:26 [ASM]) conducted in anticipation of a planned natural gas pipeline installation. El Paso Corporation (El Paso) is upgrading the EPNG 1007 pipeline (Line 1007) so that it can be tested for corrosion using an internal inspection device known as an “intelligent pig.” The current 6-inch pipeline passing through the St. Mary’s Hospital complex is too narrow for the intelligent pig and plans were made to abandon it and replace it with a pig-compatible 10-inch line several meters to the east. At the request of El Paso, SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) developed an agency-approved treatment plan to test for potential adverse effects to cultural resources that may result from the proposed improvements to Line 1007 (Hesse 2003).

Very little previous work has been conducted at the St. Mary’s Hospital Site, and through over 100 years of expansion of the hospital complex, most of the archaeological site has been developed into medical buildings, parking lots, and roadways. Over the years, artifacts have been collected from the site surface and indicate that the site likely functioned as a pre-Classic period Hohokam village. The site boundaries are not well defined, and it was not clear that the proposed undertaking would result in an adverse effect to the site. In fact, the proposed pipeline alignment was located within a paved road, and it was possible that any cultural features that had been present might have been destroyed during road construction. The treatment plan called for the testing of the proposed pipeline alignment and data recovery of features that may be exposed. However, in the event that features are found during testing, the undertaking would have an adverse effect on the archaeological site, which in turn would increase the complexity and timeframe of the proposed undertaking by raising it from a project that could be done rather quickly under a blanket certificate to one requiring a regular certificate under Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act, which requires a full environmental review.

Archaeological testing was conducted from July 1 to July 3, 2003. Seventeen cultural features were found in approximately 125 linear meters of trench. These features included 11 pithouses or possible pithouses, 3 cremation burials, and 3 non-structural pits. Because of the discovery of these features, it was clear that the proposed undertaking would have an adverse effect on the site. El Paso decided that the proposed improvements to Line 1007 could not be delayed by a lengthy certification process. Instead, El Paso opted to install intelligent pig traps at either end of the 6-inch pipeline and nitrogen test the 6-inch pipeline as a means of checking for corrosion. At this time, no additional archaeological work is planned along the archaeological test trench.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SWCA DAHA Resources   •
• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): SWCA Environmental Consultants

Sponsor(s): Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Submitted To(s): El Paso Corporation

Record Identifiers

Arizona State Museum Accession No.(s): 2003- 615

SWCA Project No. (s): 6990-115

File Information