Draft Environmental Assessment Leedco Project Icebreaker Lake Erie, City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
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DOE/EA-2045 Draft Environmental Assessment LEEDCo Project Icebreaker Lake Erie, City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Golden Field Office 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden, CO 80401 U.S. Coast Guard Commander U. S. Coast Guard Sector Buffalo 1 Fuhrmann Boulevard Buffalo, NY 14203 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District Regulatory Branch 1776 Niagara Street Buffalo, NY 14207 August 2017 Blank Page This page intentionally left blank. DOE/EA-2045 August 2017 ii Cover Sheet SUMMARY DOE Proposed Action: Expenditure of federal funding to support the development, including design, construction, and commissioning of an offshore wind advanced technology demonstration project. Type of Document: Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) Lead Agency: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Cooperating Agencies: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Project Location: Lake Erie, City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio Comment Opportunities: Comments on this Draft EA are accepted through October 10, 2017. For Further Information: U.S. Department of Energy Golden Field Office National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Division 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden, CO 80401 [email protected] Summary: Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation's (LEEDCo’s) Project Icebreaker (also known as Icebreaker Wind) was competitively selected for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) financial assistance award under Funding Opportunity Announcement U.S. Offshore Wind: Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects (Number DE-FOA-0000410). DOE is proposing to provide funding to LEEDCo to support the development of the demonstration-scale offshore wind project that would be located approximately 8 miles off the shore of Cleveland, Ohio in Lake Erie. This Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) evaluates the potential environmental impacts of providing funding to LEEDCo to support the development of the offshore wind advanced technology demonstration project (the Proposed Action), and evaluates the impacts that could occur if DOE did not provide funding (No-Action Alternative). The Proposed Project would consist of six wind turbine generators erected on foundations constructed on the Lake Erie lakebed that would generate approximately 21 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Inter-array cables (connecting the wind turbines) and an export cable (transmitting electricity generated by the wind turbines to the shore) would be buried in the lakebed, and the export cable would be brought ashore entirely under the Cleveland Harbor and the Cleveland Harbor breakwater to a new electrical substation located at the existing Lake Road Substation. The energy generated by the Proposed Project would deliver power to a single point of interconnection on the existing Cleveland Public Power electric grid – 138 kilovolt (kV) Lake Road Substation. DOE/EA-2045 August 2017 iii Acronyms and Abbreviations ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS °F degrees Fahrenheit AIS Automatic Identification System APE Area of Potential Effect ATON Aids to Navigation AWOIS Automated Wreck and Obstruction Information System BOEM Bureau of Ocean Energy Management BP before present CAA Clean Air Act CD chart datum CDF confined disposal facility CEI Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. CEQ Council on Environmental Quality CFR Code of Federal Regulations CPP Cleveland Public Power dB decibel dBA decibel (A-weighted scale) DO dissolved oxygen DOC U.S. Department of Commerce DOE U.S. Department of Energy DOI U.S. Department of the Interior DP dynamically positioned DSM digital surface model EA Environmental Assessment EDR Environmental Design & Research EERE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy EIS Environmental Impact Statement EMF electromagnetic field EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPR ethylene propylene rubber ESA Endangered Species Act FAA Federal Aviation Administration FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FOA Funding Opportunity Announcement FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact FR Federal Register GHG greenhouse gas GLT Great Lakes Towing GPS global positioning system HDD horizontal directional drilling HDPE high density polyethylene Hz hertz I- Interstate IBA Important Bird Area IRAC Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee JEDI Job and Economic Development Impact kg kilogram km kilometer kV kilovolt DOE/EA-2045 August 2017 iv Acronyms and Abbreviations LCOE levelized cost of energy LEC Lake Erie Connector LEEDCo Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation LiDAR Light Detection and Ranging µPa micropascals µT micro tesla units m/s meters per second MB Mono Bucket mg/L milligrams per liter MHz megahertz MOU Memorandum of Understanding MP/FW monopile with a friction wheel mph miles per hour MW megawatts MWh megawatt-hours NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NEXRAD next-generation radar NHL National Historic Landmark NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOX oxides of nitrogen NPS National Park Service NREL National Renewable Energy Lab NRHP National Register of Historic Places NSPS New Source Performance Standard NTIA National Telecommunications and Information Administration O&M Operations and Maintenance OAC Ohio Administrative Code OAI Ohio Archaeological Inventory ODNR Ohio Department of Natural Resources ODOT Ohio Department of Transportation OEPA Ohio Environmental Protection Agency OHI Ohio Historic Inventory OPSB Ohio Power Siting Board ORC Ohio Revised Code OSHA U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration PCB polychlorinated biphenyl the Port Port of Cleveland Proposed Action Expenditure of federal funding to support the development, including design, construction, and commissioning of the offshore wind advanced technology demonstration project Proposed Project demonstration-scale offshore wind project in Lake Erie of six wind turbine generators and the necessary electrical transmission facilities to connect the wind turbine generators to a new electrical substation, located in Cleveland, Ohio, for interconnection to the regional power grid ROV remotely operated vehicle SPCC spill prevention, containment and countermeasure SWAP Source Water Assessment and Protection TSS total suspended solids USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers DOE/EA-2045 August 2017 v Acronyms and Abbreviations USC U.S. Code USCG U.S. Coast Guard USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USGS United States Geological Survey USS United States Ship VHF very high frequency VIA Visual Impact Assessment WEST Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. WNS white-nose syndrome XLPE cross-linked polyethylene DOE/EA-2045 August 2017 vi Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 National Environmental Policy Act ........................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Background ................................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.3 Cooperating Agencies ................................................................................................................ 1-2 1.3.1 USACE Regulatory Authorities ......................................................................................... 1-3 1.3.2 USCG Regulatory Authorities ........................................................................................... 1-3 1.4 Purpose and Need ...................................................................................................................... 1-3 1.4.1 DOE Purpose and Need ..................................................................................................... 1-3 1.4.2 USACE Purpose and Need ................................................................................................ 1-4 1.4.3 USCG Purpose and Need ................................................................................................... 1-5 1.5 Public and Agency Involvement ................................................................................................ 1-5 SECTION 2 Proposed Action and Alternatives ......................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Proposed Action ......................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Project Icebreaker - Proposed Project ........................................................................................ 2-1 2.2.1 Description of the Proposed Project ................................................................................... 2-1 2.2.2 Wind Turbine and Foundation Design ............................................................................... 2-4 2.2.3 Installation of Turbines and Foundations ........................................................................... 2-9 2.2.4 Submerged Electric Collection Cable Route and Installation .......................................... 2-12 2.2.5 Substation and Associated Electric Transmission ............................................................ 2-18 2.2.6 Construction Laydown Areas ........................................................................................... 2-18 2.2.7 Construction Sequence ..................................................................................................... 2-19 2.2.8