Environmental Impact Statement: Lignite Power Generation Facility, Choctaw County, MS

TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY

Environmental Impact Statement: Lignite Power Generation

Facility, Choctaw County, MS

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) for a proposed surface lignite

coal mine and associated 400 megawatt (MW) lignite coal-fired power

plant at a location near the City of Ackerman in Choctaw County in

northeastern Mississippi. TVA's proposed actions are the purchase of

all or part of the electric power output of the proposed power plant

and interconnecting the plant with the TVA power system. The power

plant will be owned by a joint venture of the Phillips Coal Company and

CRSS, Inc.

DATES: Comments on the scope of the EIS must be postmarked no later

than November 15, 1996. TVA will conduct a public meeting in the

Ackerman, Mississippi area to discuss the project and obtain comments

on the scope of the EIS. The location and time of this meeting are

described below in the Scoping Process section.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Charles P. Nicholson,

National Environmental Policy Act Specialist, Tennessee Valley

Authority, mail stop: WT 8C, 400 West Summit

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Hill Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499. Comments may also be e-

mailed to [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles Bach, Tennessee Valley

Authority, mail stop: CTR 1D, Muscle Shoals, Alabama 35662-1010. E-mail

may be sent to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

TVA's Integrated Resource Plan

In TVA's Integrated Resource Plan and Final Environmental Impact

Statement, Energy Vision 2020, issued in December 1995, TVA evaluated

the need for additional energy resources to meet customer demands in

the TVA region and recognized that Independent Power Producers such as

this project could fulfill part of the projected needs.

Project Description

A joint venture consisting of CRSS, Inc. and Phillips Coal Company

submitted a proposal to TVA for the sale of the total electric power

output from the 400 MW power plant. The power plant would use two

circulating fluidized bed generating units and burn lignite coal from

an adjacent deposit.

Phillips Coal Company owns the rights to extensive lignite coal

deposits in northeastern Mississippi. Its proposed North Chester Mine

would be designed to produce in excess of three million tons per year

of lignite coal for a period of 30 years to supply the power plant. The

mine is expected to be a surface mine that will use draglines and a

truck and shovel operation to remove the overburden, mine the lignite

coal, and reclaim the site. The lignite coal would likely be

transported to the power plant by truck and/or overland conveyor. Over

the life of the mine, about 4,275 acres would be disturbed and

reclaimed.

TVA would connect the power plant to the TVA power distribution

system by building a 161-kV, two-circuit, loop connection to the

existing Sturgis-Eupora 161-kV transmission line and a 161-kV

connection to the existing Louisville substation. These connections

would be about 5 and 25 miles long, respectively.

In addition, a rail loop off of the Kansas City Southern and/or

Columbus and Greenville railroads, a natural gas pipeline tap and

lateral from nearby existing natural gas pipelines, and a water well

field and pipeline may also be part of the project.

Although not part of the power plant or lignite coal mine that are

the subjects of this EIS, it is anticipated that the power plant would

be located in an ``EcoPlex'' industrial park being planned by the State

of Mississippi. Although the EcoPlex is not part of TVA's proposed

action, this EIS will assess appropriate cumulative impacts of the

power plant, mine and EcoPlex. The EcoPlex could also supply the mine-

power plant complex with water and waste disposal services.

The EcoPlex would combine various manufacturing, energy production,

and service businesses at a common location to help achieve the highest

levels of efficiency in terms of energy consumption and joint

feedstock/waste utilization. The types of industries that might best be

suited for this type industrial park in northeastern Mississippi

include: newsprint and other paper and wood products manufacturing and

recycling industries; food processing; various recycling industries;

industries that use gypsum as feedstock, such as manufacturers of

wallboard, cement, and agrichemicals; brick and ceramic manufacturers;

specialized aqua-and agriculture industries; and transportation fuel

manufacturers.

Proposed Issues to be Addressed

The EIS will discuss the need for the proposed project and describe

the existing environmental, cultural, recreational, and socioeconomic

resources. It will describe the plant siting and location process,

transportation methods for coal and other raw materials, mining methods

and their potential environmental impacts. Mine reclamation plans will

be discussed as will environmental impacts resulting from construction,

operation, and maintenance of the proposed facilities; specifically,

impacts to air quality, surface and ground water quality and resources,

vegetation, wildlife, aquatic ecology, endangered and threatened

species, wetlands and wetland wildlife, aesthetics and visual

resources, land use, cultural and historic resources, light, and noise.

These concerns and other important issues identified during the scoping

process as well as engineering and economic considerations will be used

to select a preferred power plant location near the North Chester Mine,

mine plan, and other plant processes as appropriate.

Alternatives

In addition to the proposed alternative of purchasing all or part

of the electric power output from the power plant, TVA will also

consider a ``no action'' alternative which would be not to purchase the

output from the plant. In addition, alternative power plant designs,

mining and reclamation plans, and lignite coal transport methods may be

considered. TVA invites the public to comment on the proposed action

and any or all of the alternatives suggested above or to suggest other

possible alternatives.

Scoping Process

Scoping, which is integral to the EIS process, is a procedure that

solicits public input to the EIS process to ensure that: (1) issues are

identified early and properly studied; (2) issues of little

significance do not consume substantial time and effort; (3) the EIS is

thorough and balanced; and (4) delays caused by an inadequate EIS are

avoided. TVA's procedures implementing the National Environmental

Policy Act require that the scoping process commence after a decision

has been reached to prepare an EIS in order to provide an early and

open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed and

for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed action.

The scope of issues to be addressed in an EIS will be determined, in

part, from written comments submitted by mail, and comments presented

orally or in writing at a public scoping meeting. The preliminary

identification of reasonable alternatives and environmental issues

provided in this notice is not meant to be exhaustive or final. TVA

considers the scoping process to be open and dynamic in the sense that

alternatives other than those given above may warrant study and new

matters may be identified for potential evaluation.

The scoping process will include both interagency and public

scoping. The agencies expected to participate in interagency scoping

include the National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service, and various State of Mississippi agencies

including the Department of Environmental Quality, Department of

Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, the Department of Economic and

Community Development, State Historic Preservation Office of the

Department of Archives and History, and other federal, state and local

agencies as appropriate.

The public is invited to submit written comments or e-mail comments

on the scope of this EIS no later than the date given under the DATES

section of this notice and/or attend the public scoping meeting. TVA

will conduct a public meeting on the scope of the EIS in Ackerman,

Mississippi on Tuesday, October 29, 1996. The meeting will be held at

Ackerman High School, which is located at 280 East Main Street.

Registration for the meeting will be from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. with the

meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will be

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visual displays and information handouts available during the

registration period. The meeting will begin with brief presentations by

representatives of TVA, Phillips Coal Company and CRSS, Inc. explaining

the proposed project and the EIS process. Following this presentation

there will be small group discussions facilitated by TVA staff to

record the issues and concerns that the public believes should be

considered in the EIS.

Upon consideration of the scoping comments, TVA will develop

alternatives and identify important environmental issues to be

addressed in the EIS. Following analysis of the environmental

consequences of each alternative, TVA will prepare a draft EIS for

public review and comment. Notice of availability of the draft EIS will

be published by the Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal

Register. TVA will solicit written comments on the draft EIS, and

information about possible public meetings to comment on the draft EIS

will be announced. TVA expects to release a final EIS by September

1998.

Dated: October 7, 1996.

Kathryn J. Jackson,

Senior Vice President, Resource Group.

[FR Doc. 96-26414 Filed 10-15-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8120-01-P