[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 19, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61815-61816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30306]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP96-53-000 et al.]


NE Hub Partners, L.P.; Notice of Availability of the 
Environmental Assessment for the Proposed NE Hub Partners, L.P. Tioga 
Storage Project

November 13, 1997.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) on both the 
natural gas storage field and pipeline facilities proposed by NE Hub 
Partners, L.P. (NE Hub) in the above-referenced docket and the related 
brine evaporation/salt plant proposed by United Salt Northeast, L.L.C. 
(USN).
    The EA was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of the 
proposed project, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not 
constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the quality 
of the human environment.
    The EA assesses the potential environmental effects of the 
construction and operation of NE Hub's proposed underground gas storage 
facility and related pipeline facilities, including:
    <bullet> A freshwater intake pumping station at the Cowanesque 
Reservoir;
    <bullet> 3.9 miles of 12-inch-diameter freshwater pipeline to 
transport water to the leaching operation;
    <bullet> Two cavern leaching/natural gas storage wells;
    <bullet> Two gas storage caverns with a capacity of 3 billion cubic 
feet each;
    <bullet> A leaching plant facility including electrical substation, 
emergency generator, warehouse, office/control room, four 300,000 
barrel storage tanks, six 4,000 barrel storage tanks, and other 
appurtenant facilities;
    <bullet> A gas system facility, including a compression facility 
(18,750 horsepower total) with exhaust mufflers and aftercoolers for 
gas injection to and withdrawal from et al.
    <bullet> The storage caverns, meter station, electrical substation, 
emergency generator, and other appurtenant facilities;
    <bullet> Four segments of 26-inch-diameter transmission pipeline 
totaling 12.3 miles;
    <bullet> 7.7 miles of 12-inch-diameter brine and freshwater 
pipelines;
    <bullet> 5.0 miles of 4-inch-diameter fuel gas and residual/mineral 
salt purge pipelines;
    <bullet> 1.4 miles of 12-inch-diameter freshwater, mid-brine 
return, mid-brine, and saturated brine pipelines;
    <bullet> 3.7 miles of 24-inch-diameter gas storage pipeline; and
    <bullet> Two meter stations.
    In conjunction with these facilities, USN proposes to construct and 
operate the following:
    <bullet> A railroad siding turnout and truck/hopper railcar bulk 
loading station to ship commercial salt products; and
    <bullet> A brine evaporation/salt plant to dispose of the brine by 
production of commercial salt products, and other facilities to the 
extent needed for salt production, storage, and transportation.
    The purpose of the proposed facilities would be to provide two high 
deliverability natural gas storage caverns with a capacity of up to 3 
billion cubic feet per cavern. The storage facility near tioga, 
Pennsylvania would be interconnected with certain interstate and 
intrastate pipelines. The gas injection/withdrawal facilities would be 
designed to allow the gas storage facility to withdraw natural gas from 
various existing pipelines during periods of low gas demand and inject 
the gas under high pressure into the storage caverns. During periods of 
high gas demand, the natural gas would be withdrawn from the caverns 
and released into the various pipelines at the appropriate pressure. 
The injection/withdrawal facilities would be designed to inject 250 
million cubic feet of gas a day and withdraw 500 million cubic feet of 
gas a day. The injection/withdrawal cycle would be 20 days/10 days.
    In conjunction with the storage facilities, USN, would receive the 
brine from NE Hub via pipeline and develop a commercial salt business 
at a site about 1.5 miles northeast of Tioga, Pennsylvania.
    The EA has been placed in the public files of the FERC. A limited 
number of copies of the EA are available for distribution and public 
inspection at: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference 
and Files Maintenance

[[Page 61816]]

Branch, 888 First Street, N.E., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 
208-1371.
    Copies of the EA have been mailed to Federal, state and local 
agencies, public interest groups, interested individuals, newspapers, 
and parties to this proceeding.
    Any person wishing to comment on the EA may do so. To ensure 
consideration prior to a Commission decision on the proposal, it is 
important that we receive your comments before the date specified 
below. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that your 
comments are received in time and properly recorded:
    <bullet> Send two copies of your comments to: Lois Cashell, 
Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First St., N.E., 
Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426;
    <bullet> Label one of those copies for the attention of the 
Environmental Review and Compliance Branch II, PR-11.2;
    <bullet> Reference Docket No. CP96-53-000; and
    <bullet> Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before December 15, 1997.
    Comments will be considered by the Commission but will not serve to 
make the commentor 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).
    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 comments 
considered.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-30306 Filed 11-18-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M