ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT MALVERN 500 kV TRANSMISSION LINE AND ETTA SUBSTATION PROJECT ' .kz &b',,Q c cc Submitted by Entergy Arkansas, Inc. 425 West Capitol Little Rock, AR 72203 April 2001 Prepared by FTN Associates, Ltd. 3 Innwood Circle, Suite 220 Little Rock, AR 7221 1 April 24,2001 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The goal of the Malvern Transmission Line and ETTA Substation Environmental Impact Study (EIS) was to locate a new transmission line corridor and substation that would be of minimum environmental impact and economically reasonable and feasible. The proposed transmission line corridor will include construction of a new 500 kV line segment from the existing Hot Springs to McNeil500 kV line by cutting the existing line and extending both ends into a new ETTA 500 kV substation at the Duke Energy Hot Springs, LLC (DEHS) electric power generating plant. The new 500 kV line segment will consist of approximately 4,000 feet into the new ETTA Substation and approximately 4,000 feet back out to the existing 500 kV line. The two 4,000 feet line segments will be in close proximity to one another and will generally parallel one another for the entire route. The route traverses approximately 0.75 mile from the existing 500 kV line to the substation. All but approximately 0.15 mile of the proposed transmission line will traverse an existing pine plantation. The remainder crosses disturbed terrain, i. e., road, railroad, and existing 500 kV transmission line ROW. Construction features will include up to eight towers and approximately 67,000 linear feet of 3 triple bundle 954 kcmil ACRS “Rail” conductors and approximately 14,000 linear feet of Alcoa 7 No. 7 Alumoweld shield wires. The proposed transmission line corridor is located approximately 4.5 miles southwest of Malvern in Hot Spring County, Arkansas (Figure 1.1). Total length of the study area is approximately 0.75 mile. To accomplish preparation of the EIS, a study team of environmental specialists and engineers was utilized. Existing data from Federal, State and local agencies, as well as other available sources, were assembled. Because of limitations placed on the project by locations of the DEHS power plant now under construction and the existing 500 kV transmission line to be connected by the two proposed 500 kV transmission lines, the project has a limited number of practicable alternatives. Those construction alternatives were evaluated for environmental factors. The total cost for the ETTA 500 kV Substation is approximately $10.6 million. Total cost for the Hot Springs - McNeil500 kV transmission line cut-in project is approximately 1 March 2.2001 $2.8 million. The overall project will have an in-service date of late 2001. This EIS details the steps of evaluating environmental issues associated with the proposed project. .. 11 April 24. 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 .0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................. 1 .1 1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Project Need ......................................................................................................... 1-3 1.3 Route Description ................................................................................................ 1-3 1.4 Description of Project Components ..................................................................... 1-3 1.5 Typical Construction Procedures ......................................................................... 1-5 1.5.1 Surveying ................................................................................................. 1-5 1.5.2 Clearing.................................................................................................... 1-5 1.5.3 Storage Yards ........................................................................................... 1-8 1 S.4 Foundation Installation ............................................................................ 1-8 1.5.5 Structure Assembly .................................................................................. 1-9 1.5.6 Structure Erection .................................................................................... 1-9 1S.7 Conductor Installation.............................................................................. 1-9 2.0 ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................................ 2. 1 2.1 No Action ............................................................................................................. 2-1 2.1.1 Underground Construction Alternative.................................................... 2-1 2.2 Overhead Construction Alternative ..................................................................... 2-2 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING ENVIRONMENT........................................................ 3-1 3.1 Climate................................................................................................................. 3-1 3 -2 Air Quality ........................................................................................................... 3-1 3.3 Physiography........................................................................................................ 3-3 3.3.1 Topography .............................................................................................. 3-3 3.3.2 Geology .................................................................................................... 3-3 3.3.3 Soils ......................................................................................................... 3-4 3.4 Hydrology ............................................................................................................ 3-4 3.4.1 Water Courses and Surface Waters.......................................................... 3-4 3.4.2 Ground Water........................................................................................... 3-4 3.4.3 Water Quality ........................................................................................... 3-5 ... 111 April 24. 200 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 3.4.4 Wetlands .................................................................................................. 3-5 3.5 Terrestrial Ecosystem........................................................................................... 3-5 3.5.1 Vegetation ................................................................................................ 3-5 3.5.2 Wildlife .................................................................................................... 3-6 3.5.3 Protected Species ..................................................................................... 3-7 3.6 Land Use .............................................................................................................. 3-8 3.6.1 Agriculture and Forestry .......................................................................... 3-8 3.6.2 Residential.............................................................................................. 3-11 3.6.3 Commercial and Industrial..................................................................... 3-11 3.6.4 Recreation .............................................................................................. 3-11 3.6.5 Transportation........................................................................................ 3-12 3.7 Socioeconomics ................................................................................................. 3-12 3.7.1 Population .............................................................................................. 3-12 3.7.2 Employment and Income ....................................................................... 3-12 3.8 Cultural Resources ............................................................................................. 3-13 3.8.1 Historical Background ........................................................................... 3-13 3.9 Aesthetics ........................................................................................................... 3-14 3.10 Electrical Characteristics ................................................................................... 3-15 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ..................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Impact on Natural Resources ............................................................................... 4-1 4.1.1 Geology .................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1.2 Soils ......................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1.3 Hydrology and Surface Water ................................................................. 4-1 4.1.4 Ground water ........................................................................................... 4-1 4.1.5 Aquatic Ecosystems ................................................................................. 4-2 4.1.6 Terrestrial Ecosystems ............................................................................. 4-2 4.2 Impacts on Human Resources.............................................................................. 4-3 .. 4.2.1 Existing Land Use .................................................................................... 4-3 April 24. 2001 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 4.2.2 Relocations..............................................................................................