[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61815-61816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30306]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP96-53-000 et al.]
NE Hub Partners, L.P.; Notice of Availability of the
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed NE Hub Partners, L.P. Tioga
Storage Project
November 13, 1997.
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) on both the
natural gas storage field and pipeline facilities proposed by NE Hub
Partners, L.P. (NE Hub) in the above-referenced docket and the related
brine evaporation/salt plant proposed by United Salt Northeast, L.L.C.
(USN).
The EA was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of the
proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not
constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality
of the human environment.
The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the
construction and operation of NE Hub's proposed underground gas storage
facility and related pipeline facilities, including:
A freshwater intake pumping station at the Cowanesque
Reservoir;
3.9 miles of 12-inch-diameter freshwater pipeline to
transport water to the leaching operation;
Two cavern leaching/natural gas storage wells;
Two gas storage caverns with a capacity of 3 billion cubic
feet each;
A leaching plant facility including electrical substation,
emergency generator, warehouse, office/control room, four 300,000
barrel storage tanks, six 4,000 barrel storage tanks, and other
appurtenant facilities;
A gas system facility, including a compression facility
(18,750 horsepower total) with exhaust mufflers and aftercoolers for
gas injection to and withdrawal from et al.
The storage caverns, meter station, electrical substation,
emergency generator, and other appurtenant facilities;
Four segments of 26-inch-diameter transmission pipeline
totaling 12.3 miles;
7.7 miles of 12-inch-diameter brine and freshwater
pipelines;
5.0 miles of 4-inch-diameter fuel gas and residual/mineral
salt purge pipelines;
1.4 miles of 12-inch-diameter freshwater, mid-brine
return, mid-brine, and saturated brine pipelines;
3.7 miles of 24-inch-diameter gas storage pipeline; and
Two meter stations.
In conjunction with these facilities, USN proposes to construct and
operate the following:
A railroad siding turnout and truck/hopper railcar bulk
loading station to ship commercial salt products; and
A brine evaporation/salt plant to dispose of the brine by
production of commercial salt products, and other facilities to the
extent needed for salt production, storage, and transportation.
The purpose of the proposed facilities would be to provide two high
deliverability natural gas storage caverns with a capacity of up to 3
billion cubic feet per cavern. The storage facility near tioga,
Pennsylvania would be interconnected with certain interstate and
intrastate pipelines. The gas injection/withdrawal facilities would be
designed to allow the gas storage facility to withdraw natural gas from
various existing pipelines during periods of low gas demand and inject
the gas under high pressure into the storage caverns. During periods of
high gas demand, the natural gas would be withdrawn from the caverns
and released into the various pipelines at the appropriate pressure.
The injection/withdrawal facilities would be designed to inject 250
million cubic feet of gas a day and withdraw 500 million cubic feet of
gas a day. The injection/withdrawal cycle would be 20 days/10 days.
In conjunction with the storage facilities, USN, would receive the
brine from NE Hub via pipeline and develop a commercial salt business
at a site about 1.5 miles northeast of Tioga, Pennsylvania.
The EA has been placed in the public files of the FERC. A limited
number of copies of the EA are available for distribution and public
inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference
and Files Maintenance
[[Page 61816]]
Branch, 888 First Street, N.E., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202)
208-1371.
Copies of the EA have been mailed to Federal, state and local
agencies, public interest groups, interested individuals, newspapers,
and parties to this proceeding.
Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. To ensure
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is
important that we receive your comments before the date specified
below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your
comments are received in time and properly recorded:
Send two copies of your comments to: Lois Cashell,
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E.,
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
Label one of those copies for the attention of the
Environmental Review and Compliance Branch II, PR-11.2;
Reference Docket No. CP96-53-000; and
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before December 15, 1997.
Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to
make the commentor a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
procedures (18 CFR 385.214).
The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding
has passed. Therefore, parties now seeking to file late interventions
must show good cause, as required by section 385.214(b)(3), why this
time limitation should be waived.
Environmental issues have been viewed as good cause for late
intervention. You do not need intervenor status to have your comments
considered.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-30306 Filed 11-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M
