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Gas - Environment - Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)
Final Environmental Impact Statement on Guardian Expansion and Extension Project (Docket Nos. CP07-8-000, CP07-8-001, and CP07-8-002)
Issued: October 26, 2007
FERC staff prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for Guardian Pipeline, L.L.C.’s (Guardian) Guardian Expansion and Extension Project. The proposed Project consists of 83.9 miles of 30-inch-diameter and 31.3 miles of 20-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline; two new 39,000 horsepower electric-motor-driven compressor stations; three branch lines consisting of 1.4 miles of 16-inch-diameter pipeline, a 1.8 mile 20-inch-diameter pipeline, and a 0.8 mile 20-inch-diameter pipeline; modifications to the existing Ixonia Meter; and the construction of seven new meter stations and pig launcher and receiver facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin.
FERC’s environmental staff concludes that the Guardian Expansion and Extension Project with appropriate mitigating measures, as recommended, would have limited adverse environmental impact.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs; and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cooperated in the preparation of the final EIS.
Staff concludes the project would be an environmentally acceptable action (with appropriate mitigation) because:
- The proposed Project would be collocated with existing utility rights-of-way for approximately 25.7 miles, or about 21.6 percent of the proposed route;
- Guardian would implement site-specific wetland mitigation strategies to minimize impacts on sensitive wetland habitats (including forested wetlands);
- Guardian would implement our Plan and Procedures, which would minimize and mitigate impacts on natural resources during construction and operation of the Project;
- Guardian would implement an environmental and agricultural inspection monitoring program that would ensure compliance with all recommended mitigation measures; and
- Guardian would implement an Agricultural Impact Mitigation Plan developed in consultation with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection; and
- FERC’s environmental inspection and mitigation monitoring program for this project would ensure compliance with all mitigation measures that become conditions of any FERC authorization.
FERC Commissioners will take into consideration staff’s recommendations and the final EIS when they make a decision on the project.
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