Wyoming Industrial Development Information and Siting Act 109 Application Permit Wygen III Campbell County, Wyoming Prepared for Black Hills Corporation October 2007 Prepared By: 9193 South Jamaica Street Englewood, CO 80112 ES092007002DEN\WYGEN_REPORT_101907_REV4.DOC CONTENTS Contents Section Page Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary...................................................................................................................... ES-1 Project Components ..........................................................................................................ES-1 Project Location .................................................................................................................ES-1 Schedule and Cost .............................................................................................................ES-2 Construction Workforce Requirements..........................................................................ES-2 Comprehensive Housing Plan.........................................................................................ES-2 Socioeconomic Impacts.....................................................................................................ES-3 Environmental Impacts ....................................................................................................ES-3 1.0 Purpose, Need, and Benefit .............................................................................................. 1-1 1.1 Benefits..................................................................................................................... 1-2 1.1.1 Employment .............................................................................................. 1-2 1.1.2 Operations Workforce.............................................................................. 1-2 1.1.3 Purchase of Goods and Services............................................................. 1-3 1.1.4 Point of Delivery....................................................................................... 1-3 1.1.5 Taxes........................................................................................................... 1-3 2.0 Request for a 109 Permit Application............................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Applicant Information ........................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Facility Description ................................................................................................ 2-2 2.3 General Power Plant Process Description........................................................... 2-3 2.3.1 Wygen III Boiler........................................................................................ 2-3 2.3.2 Emissions Control Equipment (Boiler).................................................. 2-4 2.3.3 Material Handling .................................................................................... 2-5 2.4 Transmission Interconnection............................................................................... 2-6 2.5 Water Supply........................................................................................................... 2-6 2.6 Wastewater Discharge ........................................................................................... 2-6 2.7 Safety ........................................................................................................................ 2-7 2.8 Life of Power Plant Operation .............................................................................. 2-7 2.9 Project Decommissioning/Reclamation.............................................................. 2-7 2.10 Legal/Permit Requirements ................................................................................. 2-8 2.11 Public Involvement ................................................................................................ 2-9 2.11.1 ISA Statute Meeting Activities................................................................ 2-9 2.12 Comprehensive Workforce Housing Plan ........................................................ 2-12 2.12.1 Project Schedule and Workforce Curve............................................... 2-12 2.12.2 Construction Plan ................................................................................... 2-19 2.12.3 Local Construction Workforce.............................................................. 2-21 2.12.4 Non-Local Construction Workforce..................................................... 2-21 2.12.5 Housing Plan Options............................................................................ 2-22 3.0 Baseline Data and Analysis of Socioeconomic Impacts.............................................. 3-1 3.1 Study Area............................................................................................................... 3-2 3.2 Baseline Socioeconomic Conditions within the Study Area............................. 3-3 3.2.1 Population.................................................................................................. 3-4 3.3 Economic Conditions ............................................................................................. 3-9 ES092007002DEN\WYGEN_REPORT_101907_REV4.DOC iii CONTENTS 3.3.1 Labor ...........................................................................................................3-9 3.3.2 Future Economic Conditions.................................................................3-11 3.3.3 Housing Stock in the Study Area..........................................................3-17 3.3.4 Education..................................................................................................3-25 3.3.5 Public Safety.............................................................................................3-26 3.3.6 Health Care ..............................................................................................3-32 3.3.7 Municipal Services ..................................................................................3-32 3.3.8 Transportation .........................................................................................3-32 3.4 Analysis of Socioeconomic Impacts....................................................................3-33 3.4.1 Area of Impact .........................................................................................3-33 3.5 IMPLAN Socioeconomic Impact Modeling.......................................................3-33 3.5.1 The Role of Basic and Service Industries .............................................3-34 3.5.2 Regional Economic Analysis .................................................................3-35 3.5.3 Wygen III Regional Economic Model...................................................3-35 3.6 Housing Impact of Non-local Workforce ..........................................................3-37 3.6.1 Area of Impact Housing Summary.......................................................3-39 3.7 Education................................................................................................................3-39 3.8 Public Safety...........................................................................................................3-41 3.8.1 Community Law Enforcement and Fire Protection ...........................3-41 3.8.2 Fire Hazards.............................................................................................3-41 3.8.3 Emergency Medical Response...............................................................3-42 3.9 Health Care ............................................................................................................3-42 3.10 Municipal Services ................................................................................................3-43 3.10.1 Town of Moorcroft Water Needs..........................................................3-45 3.11 Transportation .......................................................................................................3-45 3.11.1 Adjacent Roadway Facilities..................................................................3-45 3.11.2 Potentially Affected Roads and Highways .........................................3-46 3.11.3 Operations Analysis of Potentially Affected Roads and Highways 3-46 3.12 Project Taxes ..........................................................................................................3-52 3.12.1 Tax Implications ......................................................................................3-53 4.0 Potential Environmental Impacts ....................................................................................4-1 4.1 Air Quality ...............................................................................................................4-1 4.1.1 Mercury ......................................................................................................4-2 4.2 Noise .........................................................................................................................4-5 4.3 Soil Resources/Geologic Hazards ........................................................................4-6 4.3.1 Soil Resources ............................................................................................4-8 4.4 Cultural Resources..................................................................................................4-8 4.5 Vegetation Resources..............................................................................................4-9