Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Pine Needle LNG Project and Request for Comments on Environmental Issues and Notice of Technical Conference and Site Visits

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP96-52-000]

Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Pine Needle LNG Project and

Request for Comments on Environmental Issues and Notice of Technical

Conference and Site Visits

January 19, 1996.

The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or

Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will

discuss the environmental impacts of the construction and operation of

the facilities proposed in the Pine Needle LNG Project. This EA will be

used by the Commission in its decision-making process to determine

whether an environmental impact statement (EIS) is necessary and

whether to approve the project.\1\

\1\ Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC's application was filed with

the Commission under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157

of the Commission's regulations.

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Summary of the Proposed Project

Pine Needle LNG Company, LLC (Pine Needle), is seeking approval to

construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and

storage facility approximately 13 miles northwest of Greensboro in

Guilford County, North Carolina. The purpose of the facility is to meet

winter peak shaving requirements of several customers, including

Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc., Public Service Company of North

Carolina, Inc., North Carolina Natural Gas Corporation, and the

Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia.

The primary components of the LNG facility would include:

Two double-wall, suspended-deck LNG storage tanks, each

with a gas-equivalent capacity of 2 billion cubic feet;

A pretreatment and liquefaction system with the capacity

of 20 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd);

A boil-off recompression system;

A vaporization and sendout system with the capacity of 400

MMcfd;

1.05 miles of 10- and 24-inch-diameter pipelines;

Fire protection systems; and

A 54.5 acre-foot firewater pond and earthen dam.

The storage tanks would be approximately 161 feet in height and 206

feet in diameter. Each storage tank would be surrounded by a 30-foot

high earthen dike to form individual spill containment areas sized to

hold 150 percent of the volume of LNG contained within each tank. The

proposed project facilities would be designed, constructed, and

maintained to comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal

Safety Standards for Liquefied Natural Gas Facilities (49 CFR Part

193). The facilities constructed at the site would also meet the

National Fire Protection Association 59A LNG standards.

Natural gas would be delivered to and from the LNG facility through

a 10-inch-diameter inlet pipeline and a 24-inch-diameter outlet

pipeline, respectively. These pipelines would be constructed from the

LNG facility to Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation's Mainline

transmission system, a distance of 1.05 miles. A new 1.6-mile-long, 100

kV transmission powerline would be provided by Duke Power Company to

supply power for a step-down substation at the proposed LNG facility.

The majority of this powerline would be constructed parallel and

adjacent to the new pipelines.

The proposed LNG facility would be accessed during construction and

operation using a 3,900-foot-long road extending from the facility

eastward to a public road. The location of the proposed Pine Needle LNG

Project is shown in appendix 1.\2\

\2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being

printed in the Federal Register. Copies are available from the

Commission's Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch, 888

First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 208-1371.

Copies of the appendices were sent to all those receiving this

notice in the mail.

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Land Requirements for Construction

The proposed facilities would affect approximately 86.6 acres of an

828-acre site. Pine Needle would permanently clear approximately 57.9

acres for the LNG facility site and security buffer, 10.0 acres for the

firewater pond and associated dam, 6.4 acres for the new pipeline

right-of-way, and 3.0 acres for the permanent access road. An

additional 9.5 acres would be temporarily disturbed during construction

but would be allowed to revert back to its original condition following

construction.

The EA Process/Environmental Issues

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the

Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could

result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of a

Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires us

to discover and address concerns the public may have about proposals.

We call this ``scoping''. The main goal of the scoping process is to

focus the analysis in the EA on the important environmental issues. By

this Notice of Intent, the Commission requests public comments on the

scope of the issues it will address in the EA and whether an EIS is

necessary. All comments received are considered during the preparation

of the EA. State and local government representatives are encouraged to

notify their constituents of this proposed action and encourage them to

comment on their areas of concern.

The EA will discuss impacts that could occur as a result of the

construction and operation of the proposed project under these general

headings:

Geology and Soils.

--Seismology and soil liquefaction.

--Effect of blasting.

--Erosion control.

--Facility site and right-of-way restoration.

Water Resources.

--Groundwater withdrawal and discharge to surrounding surface waters.

--Effect of dam and pond construction on Rock Branch and downstream

flows.

--The directional drilling of the Haw River and the potential to affect

water quality and riparian resources.

Biological Resources.

[[Page 2249]]

--Effect of facility construction and operation on wildlife and

fisheries habitat, including threatened, endangered, or sensitive

animal and plant species and their habitats (i.e., Carolina darter and

burreed community).

--Effect on wetland habitats.

Cultural Resources.

--Effect on historic and prehistoric sites.

--Native American and tribal concerns.

Socioeconomics.

--Impact of a peak workforce of about 115 workers on the surrounding

area.

--Long-term effects of increased employment and taxes on the local

economy.

Land Use.

--Impact on state areas of critical environmental concern.

--Effect of aboveground facilities on visual aesthetics in the area.

--Consistency with local land use plans and zoning.

--Impact on residences and recreation areas.

Air Quality and Noise.

--Air quality and noise impacts associated with construction.

--Impact on regional air quality and noise-sensitive areas associated

with operation of the proposed LNG facility.

Public Safety.

--Compliance with 49 CFR 193 for exclusion zones (thermal and vapor gas

dispersion), siting criteria, seismic criteria, and cryogenic criteria.

--Consequences of a major spill.

--Safety concerns associated with design of firewater pond dam.

We will also evaluate possible site and technology alternatives to

the proposed project or portions of the project, and make

recommendations on how to lessen or avoid impacts on the various

resource areas.

Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending

on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be

published and mailed to Federal, state, and local agencies, public

interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners,

newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for

this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for review if the EA

is published. We will consider all comments on the EA before we

recommend that the Commission approve or not approve the project.

Public Participation/Scoping Meeting

You can make a difference by sending a letter addressing your

specific comments or concerns about the project. You should focus on

the potential environmental effects of the proposal, alternatives to

the proposal (including alternative sites), and measures to avoid or

lessen environmental impact. The more specific your comments, the more

useful they will be. Please follow the instructions below to ensure

that your comments are received and properly recorded:

Address your letter to: Lois Cashell, Secretary, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., NE., Washington, DC 20426;

Reference Docket No. CP96-52-000;

Send a copy of your letter to: Mr. Michael Boyle, EA

Project Manager, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St.,

NE., Room 72-59, Washington, DC 20426; and

Mail your comments so that they will be received in

Washington, DC on or before March 22, 1996.

If you wish to receive a copy of the EA, you should request one

from Mr. Boyle at the above address.

Beyond asking for written comments, we invite you to attend our

public scoping meeting that will be held on February 15, 1996, at 7:00

p.m., at the Stokesdale Elementary School, Stokesdale, North Carolina.

This public meeting will be designed to provide you with more detailed

information and another opportunity to offer your comments on the

proposed project. The staff will also visit the proposed site on

February 15, 1996.

On March 19, 1996, at 9:00 a.m., the FERC staff will meet with

representatives of Pine Needle to conduct a cryogenic design and

engineering review of the proposed LNG facilities. This technical

conference will be held at the Stokesdale Town Hall, U.S. Hwy 158,

Stokesdale, North Carolina. The staff will also visit the proposed site

area.

Becoming an Intervenor

In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want

to become an official party to the proceeding or become an

``intervenor''. Among other things, intervenors have the right to

receive copies of case-related Commission documents and filings by

other intervenors. Likewise, each intervenor must provide copies of its

filings to all other parties. If you want to become an intervenor you

must file a motion to intervene according to Rule 214 of the

Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214) (see

appendix 2).

The date for filing timely motions to intervene in this proceeding

has passed. Therefore, parties now seeking to file late interventions

must show good cause, as required by section 385.214(b)(3), why this

time limitation should be waived. Environmental issues have been viewed

as good cause for late intervention. You do not need intervenor status

to have your scoping comments considered.

Additional information about the proposed project and site visits

is available from Mr. Michael Boyle, EA Project Manager, at (202) 208-

0839. Additional information concerning the March 19 cryogenic design

and engineering technical conference is available from Mr. Robert

Arvedlund, Chief, Environmental Review and Compliance Branch I, at

(202) 208-0091.

Lois D. Cashell,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96-1110 Filed 1-24-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717-01-M