OCEAN STATE POWER PROJECT Final Environmental Impact Statement VOLUME I
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ERC/EIS - 0050 OCEAN STATE POWER PROJECT Final Environmental Impact Statement VOLUME I Ocean State Power Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company July 1988 Docket Nos_ CP87-131-001 CP87-132-001 FERCjEIS - 0050 OCEAN STATE POWER PROJECT Final Environmental Impact Statement VOLUME I Ocean State Power July 1988 FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Docket Nos. CP87·131·001 Office of Pipeline and Producer Regulation CP87·132·001 Washington, D.C. 20426 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company Docket Nos. CP87-131-001 and CP87-132-001 OCEAN STATE POWER PROJECT NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (July 8, 1988) Notice is hereby given that the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) , in cooperation with the State of Rhode Island Office of Intergovernmental Relations (OIR) , has made available a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the natural gas pipeline facilities proposed in the above referenced dockets , and a related proposal to construct a 500- megawatt power plant in northwestern Rhode Island. The FEIS was prepared under the direction of the FERC and OIR staffs to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Rhode Island Energy Facility siting Act. The staff has determined that approval of the proposed project , with appropriate mitigating measures including receipt of all necessary permits and approvals, would have limited adverse environmental impact. The FEIS evaluates alternatives to the proposals. The proposed action involves construction and operation of a new natural gas-fired , combined-cycle power plant which would be located on a 40.6-acre parcel in the town of Burrillville, Rhode Island . The proposal includes construction of a 10-mile pipeline to transport process and cooling water to the plant from the Blackstone River, and a 7.5-mile pipeline to deliver No . 2 fuel oil to the site for emergency use when natural gas may not be available. The natural gas pipeline facilities covered in the FEIS include a total of 25.5 miles of 30-inch diameter looping in 5 separate segments located adjacent to existing gas transmission pipel ines in New York and Massachusetts , and approximately 11 miles of new 20-inch-diameter pipeline in Massachusetts and Rhode Island . The FEIS includes analysis of an additional 7,700 horsepower of compression at 3 existing compressor stations in New York and Massachusetts , and a new 4,500 horsepower compressor station in New York . 2 The FEIS will be used in the regulatory decision-making process at the FERC and may be presented as evidentiary material in formal hearings at the FERC. While the period for filing motions to intervene in this case has expired, motions to intervene out-of-time can be filed with the FERC in accordance with the requirements of the commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 CFR 385.214(d). Further, anyone desiring to file a protest with the FERC should do so in accordance with 18 CFR 385.211. The FEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and the OIR, and is available for public inspection in the FERC's Division of Public Information, Room 1000, 825 North capitol street, N.E., washington, DC 20426, and at the OIR, 275 westminster Mall, Providence, Rhode Island 02903. copies have been mailed to Federal, state and local agencies, public interest groups, interested individuals, newspapers, libraries, and parties in this proceeding. Additional copies of the FEIS, in limited quantities, are available from the FERC's Division of Public Information or from Mr. Lonnie Lister, Project Manager, Environmental Analysis Branch, Office of pipeline and Producer Regulation, Room 7312, 825 North Capitol street, N.E., Washington, DC 20426, telephone (202) 357-8874 or FTS 357-8874 Lois D. Cashell, Acting Secretary. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MAJOR CONCLUSIONS Ocean State Power (OSP), a partnership, proposes to construct and operate a a 500-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle electric generating station at a site on I Sherman Farm Road in Burrillville, Rhode Island. In addition, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (Tennessee), a division of Tenneco, Inc., proposes to construct and operate a delivery line from its existing pipeline to serve the proposed OSP project as well as provide service to Providence, Rhode Island. This proposed pipeline is known as the Rhode Island Extension. To enable Tennessee to serve OSP, additional modifications are required to Tennessee's Main Line and a segment of pipeline known as the Niagara Spur. These proposed modifications are interrelated with the OSP project, and therefore are jointly addressed in this Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). Construction and operation of the proposed Ocean State Power project at Sherman Farm Road would have a limited adverse environmental impact and would be an environmentally acceptable action. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Staff recommends certain additional mitigating measures to further reduce the anticipated environmental impacts. Construction and operation of the proposed Tennessee gas pipeline facilities addressed in this FEIS, would have a limited adverse environmental impact and would be an environmentally acceptable action. The FERC Staff recommends certain additional mitigating measures to further reduce the anticipated environmental impacts. Construction of the proposed Ocean State Power project at two other sites- Ironstone in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and Bryant College in Smithfield, Rhode Island--would have a limited adverse environmental impact and would be environ mentally acceptable alternatives to the Ocean State Power preferred site at Sherman Farm Road. None of these three sites is wholly environmentally superior to another. All have distinct environmental advantages and disadvantages. Recommendation of a site becomes a matter of environmental trade-offs, and therefore, a policy rather than environmental decision which is outside the scope of this FEIS. aBars in the right-hand margin indicate Changes for the FEIS. ES-l Construction of the proposed power plant at the Sherman Farm Road site would have significant effects on water use and local land use and would affect protected wetlands. Other resources, such as air quality, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, and cultural resources, will be affected to a lesser extent. Withdrawal of the plant's water needs of 4 million gallons per day from the Blackstone River would not itself be a significant consumptive loss; however, this use could preempt other potential uses of the water. Effects of water withdrawals on water quality in the Blackstone River also would not by themselves be significant. Since the Blackstone does not presently meet water quality standards for heavy metals and dissolved oxygen, any further degradation of the river's quality has regulatory significance. OSP and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) have agreed to mitigation measures to ensure acceptable dissolved oxygen levels in the river during low flow periods. Signi ficant effects would occur within the surrounding rural residential neighborhood during construction due to noise and traffic. Analysis of operational effects from noise, night lighting, and cooling tower fogging and icing have shown that these impacts would not be severe, but would be perceived as significant by local residents. Construction and operation of the plant facilities would result in the loss of approximately 17 acres of woodlands. Wetlands would be affected at the plant site, at the water intake, and along pipeline routes. While the total acreage of affected wetlands would not be great, the effects would be important due to their sensitive nature and protected status. Approximately 0.5 acre of wetland would be lost and several acres temporarily altered as a result of the project's development. Six streams would be crossed by the proposed water/oil pipeline route, but no significant impacts are expected. Residents in the immediate vicinity of the proposed site could suffer a loss in property value. Some of the loss may be offset by a reduction in property tax resulting from the infusion of tax revenue from the OSP facility. Residents outside the immediate vicinity would benefit from the tax revenues, but would bear none of the burden in lost property values. OSP has established funds to distribute benefits throughout the local community as well as a property value stabilization program for residents in the immediate vicinity of the power plant. ES-2 Construction of the proposed Tennessee gas pipeline facilities would result in the disruption and deforestation of approximately 360 acres of farmland, forested areas, and wetlands. Approximately 200 acres of this land would be retained as permanent rights-of-way, or held in fee (compressor and meter station sites). The marketable timber cleared along rights-of-way would be returned to the landowners. In most cases, affected cropland would be out of production for one growing season. Wetlands would be allowed to return to their natural state except that woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) would be kept clear from the permanent rights-of-way. Nelson Swamp in Madison County, New York, would be adversely impacted by the proposed pipeline project. Approximately two acres of Nelson Swamp would be cleared during construction, one-third of which would be retained as new right-of way where woody plants would not be allowed to revegetate. Construction activities along the proposed route of the II-mile Rhode Island Extension represent the greatest amount of clearing and grading to occur along the proposed action. This is because the Extension requires considerable new right-of way. Much of the route is forested and would require clear cutting a 75-foot-wide swath, with retention of a 50-foot width for permanent right-of-way. Many sections of the Extension's route also cross areas of shallow soils over bedrock or bedrock outcrop. Blasting through these areas may create a short-term nuisance situation for area residents in terms of noise and vibrations and may temporarily degrade groundwater quality in bedrock formations.