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Gas - Environment - Environmental Impact Statements (EISs)
Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed East Texas to Mississippi Expansion Project (Docket No. CP06-466-000)
Issued: May 25, 2007
The FERC staff has prepared a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Gulf South Pipeline Company L.P.'s (Gulf South) proposed East Texas to Mississippi Expansion Project (Project).
The proposed Project would include the construction and operation of approximately 243.6 miles of 36- and 42-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline, the modification and/or expansion of three compressor stations, the construction of two new compressor stations and the construction of ancillary pipeline facilities including meter and regulation facilities, main line valves and pigging facilities. These proposed facilities would be constructed and operated in East Texas, Northern Louisiana and Central Mississippi, specifically: Panola County, Texas; DeSoto, Red River, Bienville, Jackson, Ouachita, Richland and Madison Parishes, Louisiana; and Warren, Hinds, Copiah, Simpson and Walthall Counties, Mississippi.
The purpose of the proposed Project is transport up to approximately 1.7 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from production fields in eastern Texas to markets in the Gulf coast, Midwestern, Northeastern, and Southeastern United States.
This final EIS was prepared to satisfy the requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and was prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The FERC staff concludes that if the proposed Project is found to be in the public interest and is constructed and operated in accordance with Gulf South's proposed minimization and mitigation measures as well as its recommended mitigation measures, the proposed facilities would have limited adverse environmental impacts. The FERC staff reached this conclusion based in part on:
- The proposed Project would be collocated with existing utility rights-of-way for approximately 185 miles, or about 76 percent of the proposed route;
- Gulf South would implement its plans and Procedures which would minimize and mitigate impacts to natural resources during construction and operation of the Project; and
- Gulf South would implement an environmental inspection and monitoring program that would ensure compliance with all proposed and recommended mitigation measures.
The FERC Commissioners will take into consideration staff's recommendations and the final EIS when they make decisions on the Project.
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