WBI ENERGY WIND RIDGE PIPELINE, LLC Wind Ridge Pipeline Project
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WBI ENERGY WIND RIDGE PIPELINE, LLC Wind Ridge Pipeline Project Resource Report 6 Geological Resources DRAFT October 2014 WIND RIDGE PIPELINE PROJECT Resource Report 6 Geological Resources Minimum Filing Requirements For Environmental Reports Addressed in: Identify the location (by milepost) of mineral resources and any planned or active surface Section 6.3 mines crossed by the proposed facilities - 18 CFR § 380.12 (h) (1 & 2). Describe hazards to the facilities from mining activities, including subsidence, blasting, slumping or landsliding or other ground failure Identify any geologic hazards to the proposed facilities - 18 CFR § 380.12 (h) (2) Section 6.4 Discuss the need for and locations where blasting may be necessary in order to construct Section 6.6 the proposed facilities - 18 CFR § 380.12 (h) (3) For LNG projects in seismic areas, the materials required by "Data Requirements for the Not Applicable Seismic Review of LNG Facilities," NBSIR84-2833 - 18 CFR § 380.12 (h) (5) For underground storage facilities, how drilling activity by others within or adjacent to the Not Applicable facilities would be monitored, and how old wells would be located and monitored within the facility boundaries - 18 CFR § 380.12 (h) (6) Additional Information Identify any sensitive paleontological resource areas crossed by the proposed facilities Section 6.5 (Usually only if raised in scoping or required by land-managing agency) Briefly summarize the physiography and bedrock geology of the project area Sections 6.1 and 6.2 If the application is for underground storage facilities: Not Applicable - Describe monitoring of potential effects of the operation of adjacent storage or production facilities on the proposed facility, and vice versa; - Describe measures taken to locate and determine the condition of old wells within the field and buffer zone and how the applicant would reduce risk from failure of known and undiscovered wells; and - Identify and discuss safety and environmental safeguards required by state and federal drilling regulations Wind Ridge Pipeline Project Resource Report 6 – Geological Resources WIND RIDGE PIPELINE PROJECT WBI Energy Wind Ridge Pipeline, LLC Resource Report 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6.0 RESOURCE REPORT 6 – GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES ............................................... 1 6.1 GEOLOGICAL SETTING ...................................................................................... 1 6.2 PHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING AND TOPOGRAPHY ............................................. 3 6.3 MINERAL RESOURCES ....................................................................................... 5 6.4 GEOLOGIC HAZARDS ......................................................................................... 5 6.4.1 Seismic-Related Hazards .......................................................................... 5 6.4.2 Landslides ................................................................................................. 5 6.5 PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES .................................................................... 6 6.6 BLASTING ............................................................................................................. 8 6.7 DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND MITIGATION .................................................. 8 6.8 REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF TABLES Table 6.6-1 Shallow Bedrock Along the Proposed Pipeline Route ........................................... 8 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 6.1-1 North Dakota Stratigraphic Column - Cenozoic Age to Present ............................ 2 Figure 6.2-1 Elevation Profile for the Wind Ridge Pipeline Project ............................................ 4 Figure 6.4.2-1 Landslide Susceptibility ......................................................................................... 7 APPENDICES Appendix 6A Wind Ridge Pipeline Project Blasting Plan Draft 6-i October 2014 Wind Ridge Pipeline Project Resource Report 6 – Geological Resources WIND RIDGE PIPELINE PROJECT WBI Energy Wind Ridge Pipeline, LLC RESOURCE REPORT 6 – GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES Resource Report 6 describes the geologic setting of WBI Energy Wind Ridge Pipeline, LLC’s (WBI Wind Ridge) proposed Wind Ridge Pipeline Project (Project), identifies potential mineral resources within the area, discusses geologic hazards that may impact the Project, and details measures to avoid or mitigate the impact to resources and from potential hazards. Resource Report 1 provides a detailed Project description. 6.1 GEOLOGICAL SETTING The proposed Project is located in the Drift Prairie and the Missouri Coteau Regions in south-central North Dakota. The Drift Prairie and the Missouri Coteau are described in section 6.2, Physiographic Setting and Topography. The Project area is underlain by Precambrian basement rock at depths exceeding 2000 feet in the entire Project area with depth to bedrock increasing westward (Anderson, 2012). The Precambrian basement rock is overlain by sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic age. The surficial deposits are primarily glacial drift of Late Wisconsin age or later (Winters, 1963). The formations underlying North Dakota from the Cenozoic to the present are shown in figure 6.1-1 (Murphy et al., 2009). The Project area is primarily underlain by Pierre Formation bedrock and to a lesser extent, Fox Hills Formation bedrock (Bluemle, 1988). The bedrock of the area dips in a westerly direction with bedrock getting older as the Project goes east. The bedrock units are overlain by the glacial deposits in areas where they are not exposed in small localized outcrops (Bluemle, 1977). The western part of the Project in Logan and McIntosh counties includes both Fox Hills and Pierre shale whereas LaMoure and Stutsman Counties are entirely Pierre shale (North Dakota GIS, 2014). The Pierre Formation is a shale and when unweathered is a dark-gray to black non- calcareous shale that lacks distinct bedding planes. The shale is highly jointed, and red iron stains are common along the fractures. Where weathered, as is generally the case in outcrops, the shale breaks down into small flakes. These small flakes are light blue gray when dry and dark gray when wet. In most outcrops where drift overlies bedrock, the shale is weathered, and the contact between the two is represented by a transitional zone which averages several feet in thickness (Winters, 1963). The Fox Hills Formation is an interbedded sandstone and mudstone that is a fine-grained protoquartzite (Clayton, 1962). Draft 6-1 October 2014 Modified from: Murphy, Ed, Stephan Nordeng, Bruce Juenker, and John Hoganson. 2009. North Dakota Stratigraphic Column. North Dakota Geological Survey - Miscellaneous Series 91. Available online at: https://www.dmr.nd.gov/ndgs/documents/Publication_List/pdf/Strat-column-NDGS-(2009).pdf Figure 6.1-1 Wind Ridge Pipeline Project North Dakota Stratigraphic Column-Cenozoic Age to Present FILE: M:\Clients\V-X\WBI\WindRidge\_ArcGIS\2014\10\RR6_Geology\_WBI_WindRidge_RR6_Geol_Strat_Column.mxd6-2 | REVISED: 10/13/2014 | SCALE: 1:684,929 DRAWN BY: Lindsay Sheldon Wind Ridge Pipeline Project Resource Report 6 – Geological Resources 6.2 PHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING AND TOPOGRAPHY Physiographic provinces are distinguished by characteristic geologic structure, rock units, soil types, and vegetation that reflect a unified climatic and geological history. The elevations and shapes of landforms of each province are significantly different from those in adjacent provinces. The Project crosses two physiographic provinces, the Missouri Coteau and the Drift Prairie. Elevations in the Project area range from a low of 1,366 feet above sea level near MP 87.0 to a high of 2,205 feet above sea level near MP 9.0. An elevation profile for the Project is presented in figure 6.2-1. The proposed pipeline route for the Project originates in the Missouri Coteau and extends into the Drift Prairie. Both the Missouri Coteau and the Drift Prairie are part of an area known as the Prairie Pothole Region due to the high density of wetlands created by the glacial land features. The Missouri Coteau is mainly a terminal moraine complicated by recessional moraines (Laird, 1955). Most of the landforms on the Missouri Coteau formed due to the collapse of glacial sediment that covered a nearly continuous sheet of stagnant glacial ice. Typical landforms of the Missouri Coteau include hilly areas of collapsed glacial sediments, collapsed floodplains and lake plains, elevated lake plains, and various types of ice disintegration features. The glacial sediment ranges in thickness from 200 feet to 500 feet (Bluemle, 1979). From about MP 22.0 to MP 60.0, the pipeline route crosses an area of more variable topography with a high density of the pothole wetland features (ESRI 2014a). This area is part of the Missouri Coteau and is known as the Missouri Escarpment. The Missouri Escarpment marks the boundary between the Missouri Coteau and the Drift Prairie (Bluemle, 1979). The Project route also crosses areas of steep localized topography near the crossings of Beaver Creek (MP 74.0) and the James River (MP 87.0). In the vicinity of MP 60.0, the pipeline route crosses into Drift Prairie for the remainder of the route. The Drift Prairie is characterized by glacial features such as, outwash plains, terminal and recessional moraines, deltaic deposits, and ice contact deposits (kames, eskers), as well as interlaced spillway systems characterized by overloaded, braided, and modern streams