98-6204. Public Meetings for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Bluestone Dam Safety Assurance Project, Hinton, WV

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 11874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-6204]



[[Page 11874]]

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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Department of the Army; Corps of Engineers


Public Meetings for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, 
Bluestone Dam Safety Assurance Project, Hinton, WV

AGENCY: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

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SUMMARY: With the distribution of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) having been completed on the Bluestone Lake Dam Safety 
Assurance Project, this notice announces the following two Public 
Meetings to consider comments concerning the document:
First Meeting
    Date of Meeting: April 1, 1998.
    Time: 7:00 p.m.
    Place: State Capitol Complex, Building 7, Conference Room C, 1900 
Kanawha Blvd., Charleston, West Virginia.
Second Meeting
    Date of Meeting: April 2, 1998.
    Time: 7:00 p.m.
    Place: Summers County High School, Auditorium, 1 Bobcat Drive, 
Hinton, West Virginia.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Please address questions regarding this notice to Mr. A. Benjamin 
Borda, Environmental Analysis Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 502 
8th Street, Huntington, WV 25701. By telephone call [phone] or 
by facsimile [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the policy of evaluating existing 
Corps of Engineers projects to ensure dam safety, the Huntington 
District is evaluating alternative measures to modify Bluestone Dam 
consistent with present day design criteria. The study is being 
conducted through the Corps of Engineers (COE) Dam Safety Assurance 
Program for the evaluation of existing dams. The COE has determined 
that improvements to the dam are necessary to accommodate the probable 
maximum flood (PMF). The DEIS analyzes three structural alternatives 
for the correction of hydrologic and seismic deficiencies at Bluestone 
Dam as well as a no-action alternative. These alternatives are 
summarized as follows:
    a. Alternative 1. Raise the existing dam and strengthen it, without 
adding additional discharge capacity. It will sustain a pool elevation 
of 1555.8 feet and safely withstand the PMF.
    b. Alternative 2. Maintain the current height of the dam and 
strengthen it to sustain a pool elevation of 1534.5 feet and construct 
an auxiliary spillway for additional discharge capacity, to safely 
withstand the PMF.
    c. Alternative 3. Raise the existing dam and strengthen it, while 
utilizing the six existing penstocks to allow additional discharge 
capacity. It will sustain a pool elevation of 1546.8 feet and safely 
withstand the PMF. This is the preferred alternative.
    d. No Action Alternative. Make no changes to the dam, either 
physically or operationally. The dam would not withstand the PMF. It is 
highly probable that the dam would fail at a pool elevation estimated 
to be 1532 feet.
    Alternative 3 was not identified during scoping but arose from 
environmental and economic considerations undertaken during the 
development of the DEIS. The features of Alternative 3 are intermediate 
to the original structural alternatives (1 & 2). The DEIS contains 
specifics on all three structural alternatives in addition to a 
description of projected impacts.
    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the COE to 
take into account the environmental impacts that could result from this 
Federal action. NEPA also requires that the COE discover and address 
concerns the public may have about the proposed project. This was 
accomplished initially through the ``scoping'' process. With 
distribution of the DEIS having been completed, the COE is now making 
the above notice of meetings to consider comments concerning the 
document.
    Interested groups and individuals are encouraged to attend the 
meetings and to present oral comments on the environmental issues which 
they believe should be considered further in the Final EIS. Anyone who 
would like to make an oral presentation should telephone or write to 
Mr. Ben Borda (above address) by 4 p.m., March 25, 1998, so that time 
may be allotted during the meetings, and a name placed on the speaker 
list.
Gregory D. Showalter,
Army Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 98-6204 Filed 3-10-98; 8:45 am]
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