Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement, Harney County, OR

[[Page 35921]]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[OR-020-05-1330-01: G5-162]

Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement, Harney County,

OR

AGENCY: Burns District, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), DOI.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

(EIS) for a Plan of Operations for a proposed geothermal electric

generating plant and associated geothermal facilities and operations

near Borax Lake in Pueblo Valley, southern Harney County.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, and 43 CFR Part 3200, the Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) will be directing a third party contractor in the preparation of

an EIS on the impacts of a proposed geothermal electric generating

plant and associated facilities and operations known as the Pueblo

Valley Geothermal Project, which would be located on public land about

1-mile southwest of Borax Lake and 5 miles northeast of Fields, Oregon.

Comments are being requested to help identify significant issues or

concerns related to the proposed action, to determine the scope of the

issues and alternatives that need to be analyzed, and to eliminate from

detailed study those issues that are not significant. Supporting

documentation should be included with comments recommending that the

EIS address specific environmental issues.

DATES: Scoping meetings to encourage public participation will be held

in Burns, Fields, Bend, and Portland. Once a third party contractor has

been selected, the exact dates and locations will be published in the

Burns Times-Herald, Bend Bulletin, and the Oregonian.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to the Bureau of Land

Management, HC 74-12533 Hwy 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738, Attn: Pueblo

Valley Geothermal Project Manager.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Craig (Cody) M. Hansen (503) 573-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation submitted a

Plan of Development, Utilization, Production, Injection, and Disposal

for a project to drill and test production and injection wells and to

supply, build, and operate a 22.9 MW (net) air-cooled binary geothermal

electric power plant and supporting facilities in the Alvord Known

Geothermal Resource Area (KGRA) in Pueblo Valley. The development would

be located within portions of Sections 21, 22, 23, and 27, Township 37

South, Range 33 East of the Willamette Meridian. Geothermal fluid (hot

water) would be pumped from an underground reservoir and produced

initially from 6 to 10 geothermal production wells. The hot water would

be transported via surface pipelines to a proposed binary power plant

where it would be used to heat a second fluid system, which in turn

would run turbines to generate electricity. After heat extraction, the

cooled geothermal water would be pumped via surface pipelines to six to

eight injection wells to be returned to the subsurface geothermal

reservoir. The plant would use a closed production loop with no release

of geothermal liquid or gases to the surface environment. Well spacing

would be approximately one well per 25 acres and well pads would occupy

between 1.2 and 2.2 acres. The production facility would occupy 12.6

acres. The proposed plan includes monitoring of Borax Lake and the

collection of seismic data in the area as well as a suite of mitigation

measures to reduce adverse impacts. The estimated viable life of the

project is expected to be 30 years.

This EIS will address potential impacts to nearby Borax Lake as

well as to geology, minerals, gothermal resources, groundwater, soil,

vegetation, grazing management, wildlife, recreation, visual resources,

air quality, cultural and paleontological resources, land use, access,

and social and economic values related to development of the project.

Federal, State, and local agencies and other individuals or

organizations who may be interested in or affected by the BLM's

decision are invited to participate in the scoping process. The

Authorized Officer will respond to public input and comment as part of

the final EIS through the third party contractor. The decision

regarding the proposal will be recorded as a Record of Decision, which

is subject to appeal under 43 CFR Part 4.

Date: July 5, 1995.

Jerome A. Petzold,

Assistant District Manager for Operations.

[FR Doc. 95-17073 Filed 7-11-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-33-M