Environmental Compliance and Overview
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----------- DOE/ EIS-0070 U.S. Department of Energy August 1980 Assistant Secretary Environment Office of Environmental Compliance and Overview Draft Environmental Impact Statement Mining, Construction and Operation for�.EWLSi_:A'lodule at the Anvil Points OifSliaJeFacility, Rifle, Garfield County, d ,,-,' / ... " t - ... Colorado"... �.�. '. ._ __ Ii' - _� ;>- ",, ' ; . -,"","�-"--,,,- "" , . ' ;., Environmental DOE/ EIS-0070 U.S. Department of Energy August 1980 Assistant Secretary Environment Office of Environmental Compliance and Overview Draft Environmental Impact Statement Mining, Construction and Operation for a Full Size Module at the Anvil Points Oil Shale Facility, Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado Environmental Co ver Sheet Draft Envi ronmental Impact Statement Mi ni ng, Co nstruction and Operation fo r a Ful l-Size Mo dule at the An vi l Po ints Oi l Shale Facility (a) Lead Ag ency : U. S. Department of Energy (b) Proposed Action : The approval to mine 11 mi llion to ns of oil shal e from the Naval Oil Shale Reserves (NOSR) at An vil Po ints , Co lorado , to construct an experimental ful l-size shale retort mo dule on a 365-acre lease tract having a 4700 bbl /day production capacity, and to co nsider ex ten sion , mo dification or new leasing of the faci lity. (c) Fo r Further Information Co ntact: (1) Larry W. Harrington , U.S. Department of Energy , Laramie Energy Technology Center, P. O. Box 3395 , Un i versity Station , Larami e, WY 82071 , phone 30 7-721-225 1, FTS 328-4251; (2) Dr. Ro bert J. Stern , Acting Di rector, MEPA Affai rs Di vi sion , Offi ce of the As sistant Secretary fo r Envi ronment, Room 4G-064 , Fo rrestal Bui ld ing; or (3) Mr . Stephen H. Greenleigh, Esq. , Assistant General Co unsel fo r Envi ronment, Room 60-033, Fo rrestal Bui l ding, Washington , D.C. 20585 , phone 20 2-252-6947. Fo r co pies of the EIS co ntact : Larry W. Harri ngton at the address noted above. (d) Designation: Draft EIS (e ) Ab stract : The statement assesses impacts associ ated with ml nlng up to 11 mi llion to ns of oil shale and subsequent co nstruction and operation of a ful l-size oil shale module at the Anvil Po ints Oil Shale Faci lity in Garfi eld Co unty, Co lorado . Mo delling results predi ct that the faci lity will comply with all Federal ambient air quality standards . Land distur bance duri ng the 18-month construction period is expected to cause 600 to 80 ,000 to ns of sediment loading in the Co lorado Ri ver, dependi ng upon the use of runoff co ntrol techniques . Re tort process wate r will be deposited in the Bal zac Gulch retorted shale disposal site. The project will co nsume 122 acre-ft/yr of water, 64 acres of surface land, and add from 233 to 1,378 people to the area duri ng different phases of co nstruction and operation . (f) Al ternati ves to the proposed action include no action , alternati ve locations fo r the retort and the di sposal site. (g ) The Department of Energy has dete rmi ned that no t enough information is currently avai lable to assess fully the impacts of the proposed di s po sal of spent shale and raw shale fines . Therefore , a supplemental EIS is planned to address the envi ro nmental impacts of alternative me thods of disposing of spent shale and raw shale fi nes. The supplemental EIS will be based on mo re detai led design information , which will be avai l able duri ng Phase I and II. Co nstruction will no t commence on any aspect of the disposal operation until a final supplement has been circulated and a Re cord of Decision publ ished. (h ) Comme nts on this draft EIS should be addressed to Larry W. Harring ton at the address no ted above . The comment period ends 45 days after appear ance in the Fe dera l Register. i PRE FAC E Proposed Ac tion. De ve lopme nt Engineering, Inc ., (DEI), a subsidiary of Paraho De velopme nt Corporation, has re queste d approval from the De partment of Ene rgy (DOE ) to mine 11 mi llion tons of oil shale from Naval Oi l Shale Rese rve (NOSR) 3, to extend the existing lease, and to construct and operate a fu ll-size (4,700 bbl/day ) re tort on a 365-acre lease tract at the Anvil Poi nts Oi l Shale Facility, Colorado . The re tort module would be developed by DEI and would use the Paraho di re ct-mode process te chnol ogy. Operati ng the module and its su pporti ng faci lities would requ ire mining and crushing the oil shale , trans porti ng the raw shale to the re tort, re torti ng, transporting the shale oi l to storage tanks, disposing fines and spent shale, and transporting the crude shale oil from the site. Presently, the existing An vil Points semiworks and pi lot pl ants are operating inde pendently on a part-time basis; the semi works pl ant would su ppleme nt the fu ll-size module as necessary. The An vi l Points operation will have three phases : Phase I is an 8-month program to plan the facility; Phase II is an I8-month pe riod to de velop the mi ne, deta il the design plans and construct the module; and Phase III is an I8-month module operation pe ri od which may be extended, depending on start-up and operati ng pe rformance . DE I cu rrently is worki ng on prel imi nary pl ans for Phase I. Construction and final ized de tailed des ign pl ans will not start unti l completion of the NEPA (N ational Environmental Pol icy Ac t) process . However, a suppleme ntal EIS will be prepared to assess the potenti al impacts of spent shale disposal and the disposal of raw shale fines af te r mo re design information is available. DEI expects to maintain its 44-month producti on schedule ; howe ver, Phase III would not be completed before the existi ng DEI faci lity lease expires in Ju ly 1982. ii The proposed action could contribute to the Congressional ly mandated oil shale development program by demonstrating the rel iability, efficiency, and feas ibil ity of oil shale surface retorting in a commercial size retort , thus obtaining technical information which may aid in developing the oil shal e retorting industry. An expanded development program for the Paraho process wi ll provide physical scale-up and cost data for eval uating commercial scale process economics. In addition, envi ron�ental data wi ll provide an oppor tunity to minimize potential adverse impacts of ful l-size operations. The proposed Anvil Points module wi ll be an experimental , not a commercial faci l ity. A commercial oil shale facility would contai n 10 or more modules the size of the proposed ful l-size module. Lease Authorization and Approval . The objective of the proposed action is to continue to lIencourage the use of the (Anvil Points Oil Shale) facility in research, devel opment test, eval uation, and demonstration work,1I consistent with 10 U.S.C . 7438(b), as ordered by Congress .. Development Engineering, Inc. (DEI ), the lessee of the facil ity, has proposed to bui ld a ful l-sized oil shale retort for testing of economic, envi ronmental , and process parameters . In order to conduct such a test, additional oi 1 shale ·must be mined. liThe Secretary of the Interior (now the Secretary of Energy ) may , after consul tation by the Secretary of the Navy with the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representative authorize the mi ning and removal , of any oil shale or products therefrom from lands in the naval oil shale re serves that may be needed for such experimentation.1I 10 U.S.C. 7438(b). On July 27 , 1974, Devel opment Engineeri ng , Inc. , proposed to construct a ful l-size Paraho retort at Anvil Poi nts . Under the plan, a maximum of an iii additional 11 mi llion tons of oil shale wo uld be mined from the Naval Oi l Shale Reserves. In a letter dated October 30, 1974 , the Acting Secretary of the Navy for Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves , Mr. Jack L. Bowers , forwarded the DEI proposal to the Chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. In a letter dated December 6, 1974 , Congressman Hebert, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee , stated that the Committee had no objection to the mining of an additional 11 mi llion tons of oi l shale. In a similar letter dated October 24, 1974 , Senator Stennis stated that the Senate Armed Service Committee had no objections to the mining of an addi tional 11 million tons of oil shale. In May 1975, the Secretary of the Interior completed an Environmental Impact Assessment on the proposed action , authorization to mine 11 mi llion tons of oil shale. On November 4, 1975, the Ene rgy Research and Devel opment Admin istrati on's Assistant Administrator for Fossil Energy notified Devel opment Engineering, Inc. , that authorization of the proposal and modification of the existing lease would require preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement before final action could be taken with respect to the authorization. In 1972, the Anvil Poi nts Oil Shale Faci lity was leased to DEI.