[Federal Register: April 5, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 65)]
[Notices]
[Page 16779-16781]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05ap07-63]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket Nos. CP06-470-000; CP06-471-000; CP06-472-000; CP06-473-000;
CP06-474-000]
Southern LNG Inc.; Elba Express Company, L.L.C.; Southern Natural
Gas Company; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for the Elba III Project
March 30, 2007.
The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or
Commission) has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the Elba III Project, proposed by Southern LNG Inc. (Southern LNG),
Elba Express Company, L.L.C. (EEC), and their parent company Southern
Natural Gas Company (Southern), a subsidiary of El Paso Corporation. As
described in the above-referenced dockets, this project would consist
of the following components:
Southern LNG's expansion of the existing Elba Island
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal near Savannah in Chatham
County, Georgia;
EEC's construction and operation of natural gas pipeline
and compression facilities (Elba Express Pipeline) extending between
existing facilities owned by Southern in Chatham County and those of
Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation (Transco) in Hart County,
Georgia and Anderson County, South Carolina; and
Southern's abandonment by sale to EEC of an undivided
interest in its pipeline facilities that extend between the LNG import
terminal and the existing Port Wentworth Meter Station (where the Elba
Express Pipeline would begin), and purchase of an undivided interest in
the first 10 miles of the Elba Express Pipeline.
The draft EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and was completed
with the cooperation of the U.S. Coast Guard (Coast Guard), the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (COE), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). A
cooperating agency has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with
respect to potential environmental impacts associated with the
proposal, and participates in the NEPA analysis.
The Coast Guard is responsible for determining the suitability of a
waterway for LNG marine traffic; in this instance, the determination
would be issued as a Letter of Recommendation with conditions. The
Captain of the Port Savannah is the point of contact for this action.
The COE would need to evaluate the project and issue Section 404
Permits for wetland impacts associated with expansion of the terminal
and pipeline construction, easements where the pipeline would cross
COE-managed lands, modifications to existing COE Mitigation Lands, and
an approval for a large fuel-carrying pipeline to cross federal
property. NOAA Fisheries has responsibilities for evaluating potential
impacts on essential fish habitat and threatened or endangered aquatic
species.
The FERC staff has concluded that if the project is constructed and
operated in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, each
project sponsor's proposed mitigation, and the staff's additional
mitigation recommendations, it would have limited adverse environmental
impact and would be an environmentally acceptable action.
The draft EIS addresses the potential environmental effects of
construction and operation of the following LNG terminal and natural
gas pipeline facilities:
Elba Terminal Expansion
The proposed expansion of the existing LNG import terminal would:
(a) More than double the site's LNG storage capacity by adding 405,000
cubic meters (m3) of new storage; (b) substantially increase
the facility's existing vaporization capacity; (c) upgrade the
terminal's send-out meter station to increase the natural gas send-out
capacity of the facility by an additional 900 million cubic feet per
day (MMcfd); and (d) modify the terminal's LNG tanker berthing and
unloading facilities to accommodate larger tankers and provide for
simultaneous unloading of two LNG tankers. All of the planned
facilities would be located entirely within the existing 190-acre
facility site on Elba Island.
The LNG terminal expansion would be constructed in two phases, A
and B. Southern LNG anticipates completing Phase A as early as January
2010. Phase A would include the following facilities:
a. One new 200,000-m3 (1.25 million barrels [bbls]) LNG
storage tank, one associated boil-off gas condenser, and three boil-off
gas compressors;
b. three submerged combustion vaporizers, each with a peak capacity
of 180 MMcfd (providing a total peak send-out capacity of 1,755 MMcfd
for the full facility at the completion of phase A); and
c. modifications to the unloading docks to accommodate larger LNG
[[Page 16780]]
tankers and to allow simultaneous unloading of two LNG tankers. The
modifications to the dual berthing slip include:
--Adding four mooring dolphins (two for each berth);
--dredging approximately 72,000 cubic yards of material from the slope
at the back of the existing slip (and disposing of dredged material
into the existing spoil disposal area adjacent to the terminal); and
--installing a sheet pile bulkhead at the back of the slip.
These modifications would allow the slip to accommodate larger LNG
tankers with an approximate overall length of 345 meters (m) (compared
to the current 288 m), breadth of 55 m (currently 49 m), design laden
draft of 12.0 m (currently 11.7 m), and displacement of 177,000 metric
tons (currently 128,000 metric tons).
Phase B would be completed no later than December 2012 and would
include the following facilities:
a. one new 200,000-m3 (1.25 million bbls) LNG storage
tank; and
b. three submerged combustion vaporizers (two for service and one
spare), each with a peak capacity of 180 MMcfd (providing a total peak
send-out capacity of 2,115 MMcfd for the full facility at the
completion of phase B).
Each phase would include all necessary ancillary equipment
including related pumps, piping, controls and appurtenances, and
associated systems (electrical, mechanical, civil, instrumentation,
hazard detection, and fire protection) and buildings necessary to
accommodate the associated tanks and vaporizer units.
Elba Express Pipeline
EEC proposes to construct and operate about 188 miles of new
natural gas pipeline and appurtenant facilities in Georgia and South
Carolina. The pipeline would be constructed in two phases. The first
phase is proposed to be placed in service no later than July 2011 with
a design capacity of 945 MMcfd, and would consist of:
a. a ``Southern Segment,'' which includes about 104.8 miles of 42-
inch-diameter pipeline extending from Port Wentworth to the existing
Southern Wrens Compressor Station (Wrens) in Jefferson County, Georgia
(to be collocated with existing Southern pipelines); and
b. a ``Northern Segment,'' which includes about 83.1 miles of 36-
inch-diameter pipeline extending from Wrens to interconnects with
Transco in Hart County, Georgia, and Anderson County, South Carolina.
The second phase would involve construction and operation of a new
10,000-horsepower compressor station near Millen, Jenkins County,
Georgia, on a site where Southern currently operates other aboveground
facilities. The compressor station would increase the pipeline design
capacity by 230 MMcfd to a total of 1,175 MMcfd, and is proposed to be
placed in service no later than January 2013.
The draft EIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and
is available for distribution and public inspection at: Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, Public Reference Room, 888 First Street, NE.,
Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8371.
CD-ROM copies of the draft EIS have been mailed to federal, state,
and local agencies; public interest groups; individuals and affected
landowners who requested a copy of the draft EIS or provided comments
during scoping; libraries and newspapers in the project area; and
parties to this proceeding. Hard copy versions of the draft EIS were
mailed to those specifically requesting them. A limited number of hard
copies and CD-ROMs are available from the Public Reference Room
identified above.
Comment Procedures and Public Meetings
Any person wishing to comment on the draft EIS may do so. To ensure
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is
important that the Commission receive your comments before the date
specified below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure
that your comments are received and properly recorded:
Send an original and two copies of your comments to:
Philis J. Posey, Acting Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
Reference Docket Nos. CP06-470-000, et al.
Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas
Branch 1, DG2E.
Mail your comments so that they will be received in
Washington, DC on or before May 21, 2007.
Please note that the Commission strongly encourages electronic
filing of any comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding.
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's
Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link and the
link to the User's Guide. Before you can file comments you will need to
create a free account, which can be created by clicking on ``Login to
File'' and then ``New User Account.'' You will be asked to select the
type of filing you are making. This filing is considered a ``Comment on
Filing.''
In lieu of sending written comments, you are invited to attend
public comment meetings the FERC staff will conduct in the project area
to receive comments on the draft EIS. Date, time, and location of these
meetings will be sent under separate cover. Interested groups and
individuals are encouraged to attend and present oral comments on the
draft EIS. Transcripts of the meetings will be prepared.
After these comments are reviewed, any significant new issues are
investigated, and modifications are made to the draft EIS, a final EIS
will be published and distributed. The final EIS will contain the FERC
staff's responses to timely comments received on the draft EIS.
Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to
make the commenter a party to the proceeding. Any person seeking to
become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene
pursuant to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and
Procedures (18 CFR 385.214). Anyone may intervene in this proceeding
based on this draft EIS. You must file your request to intervene as
specified above.\1\ You do not need intervener status to have your
comments considered.
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\1\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing
comments electronically.
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Additional information about the project is available from the
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the
FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. Click on
the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter the docket
number excluding the last three digits in the Docket Number field. Be
sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For assistance,
please contact FERC Online Support at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or
toll free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, contact (202) 502-8659. The
eLibrary link on the FERC Internet Web site also provides access to the
texts of formal documents issued by the Commission, such as orders,
notices, and rulemakings.
In addition, the Commission now offers a free service called
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with
notification of these filings,
[[Page 16781]]
document summaries and direct links to the documents. Go to the
eSubscription link on the FERC Internet Web site.
Philis J. Posey,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-6315 Filed 4-4-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P