[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 110 (Thursday, June 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30265-30266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-14003]



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 Notices
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 110 / Thursday, June 8, 1995 / 
Notices  

[[Page 30265]]

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Rural Utilities Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement To 
Evaluate Aquifer Appropriations at the Burr Well Field and To Fund the 
Design and Construction of the Northeast Phase of the Lincoln-Pipestone 
Rural Water System

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), USDA announces its intent 
to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (U.S.C. 4231 et seq.) 
in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for 
implementing the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 1500-1508) and 
Agency regulations 7 CFR 1940-G. The primary scope of the EIS is to 
evaluate water appropriations from a hydrological subunit of the 
Prairie Coteau Aquifer at the Burr Well Field for the Lincoln-Pipestone 
Rural Water System (LPRWS) in southwestern Minnesota and its potential 
affects on surface water bodies and wetlands in the area and to 
evaluate the environmental impacts of an expansion phase of LPRWS--the 
Northeast Phase. With this notice, RUS invites any affected Federal, 
State, and local Agencies and other interested persons to comment on 
the scope and the significant issues to be analyzed in depth in the 
EIS.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the EIS will be accepted 30 
days after the public scoping meetings are held.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Mark S. Plank, USDA, Rural 
Economic and Community Development Services, Rural Utilities Service, 
Program Support Staff, AG Box 0761, Washington, DC 20250, telephone 
(202) 720-1640 or Fax (202) 690-4335.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John J. Melbo, USDA, Rural Economic and Community Development Services, 
410 AgriBank Building, 375 Jackson Street, St. Paul, MN 55101-1853, 
telephone (612) 290-3842 or Mark S. Plank, USDA, Rural Economic and 
Community Development Services, Rural Utilities Service, Program 
Support Staff, AG Box 0761, Room 6309, Washington, DC 20250-0761, 
telephone (202) 720-1640.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: From a historic perspective, water in 
adequate quantity and quality has been difficult to obtain in southwest 
Minnesota. Periodic drought conditions often deplete already marginal 
supplies. Shallow farm wells in the area have been affected by drought 
and pollution from agricultural run-off that has resulted in nitrate 
and pesticide contamination. Deeper wells in the area are costly to 
construct and usually yield highly mineralized water with high levels 
of iron, manganese, and sulfates. In an attempt to resolve water supply 
difficulties, the LPRWS, headquartered in Lake Benton, Minnesota, was 
organized as a Minnesota municipality for the sole purpose of 
delivering and supplying high quality water supplies to rural users and 
various municipalities. LPRWS is governed by a board of commissioners 
who are appointed by the District Court. Water supply costs are borne 
by LPRWS customers and through various federal grants.
    LPRWS currently provides water service to 1,700 rural customers and 
seventeen cities in southwest Minnesota. LPRWS has constructed its 
water system in various phases and has utilized several well fields to 
provide water for the different phases. The current phase, in which 
concerns have been raised, is the Existing System North/Lyon County 
Expansion project. The well field designed to supply water for this 
phase and future service areas in the Burr Well Field. The Burr Well 
Field is utilizing a subunit of the Prairie Coteau aquifer. The Prarie 
Coteau aquifer is collectively defined as numerous lenticular bodies of 
glacial outwash buried beneath a surficial layer of glacial till and 
within a thick layer of glacial drift.
    RUS, and its predecessor agencies, has provided a series of loans 
and grants to fund infrastructure development for the LPRWS. As 
required by NEPA, RUS has prepared a series of Environmental 
Assessments (EA) for the various phases. The previous EA conducted for 
the Existing North/Lyon County Expansion phase was completed in 1992 
with an issuance of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on 
February 17, 1992. During the construction phase of the water treatment 
plant at the Burr Well Field concerns were raised by local citizens and 
state regulatory bodies concerning potential impacts to surface water 
bodies and wetland areas from groundwater appropriations at the Burr 
Well Field. To respond to these concerns RUS decided to amend the 
earlier EA and re-examine the issues raised by concerned parties. Upon 
completion of the EA amendment, RUS concluded that an Environmental 
Impact Statement was necessary to fully evaluate the technical issues 
raised by the concerned parties.
    The primary unresolved concern includes, but is not limited to, the 
appropriation of water from the Prairie Coteau aquifer at the Burr Well 
Field site. As mentioned above, the Burr Well Field is utilizing a 
subunit of the Prairie Coteau aquifer. This subunit appears to be one 
of the aforementioned lenticular bodies of outwash within a larger 
deposit of glacial drift and is under artesian conditions within its 
areal extent and at the well head site. The artesian nature of the 
outwash body is the source of the concern. It is hypothesized that due 
to localized artesian conditions, numerous surface water bodies and 
wetland areas receive, through a hydraulic connection, an undetermined 
quantity of water as recharge and that the recharge sustains water 
levels in these areas. Since the Burr Well Field is utilizing this 
aquifer, it is alleged that sustained appropriation of water at the 
well head may adversely reduce recharge to area wetlands and lakes, 
thus altering water budgets for these resources. The EIS will attempt 
to evaluate these concerns, as well as, evaluate environmental impacts 
from the construction of the Northeast Phase.
    Two public meetings will be held in the project area to receive 
oral and written comments. One meeting will be held in Minnesota and 
the other one in South Dakota. Detail about these meetings will be 
announced later in area newspapers. Oral comments received at 
[[Page 30266]] this meeting will be accorded the same weight as written 
comments. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will participate in 
the EIS process as a cooperating agency.
    After the scoping process and the initial environmental analysis 
are completed RUS will issue a Draft EIS. A Notice of Availability of 
the Drift EIS will be published in the Federal Register and area 
newspapers, and public comments will again be solicited. Those persons 
who choose not to comment on the scope of the document at this time but 
desire a copy of the Draft EIS should sent their names and addresses to 
Mark S. Plank at the address listed above. RUS anticipates releasing a 
final EIS in about 16-18 months.

    Dated: June 1, 1995.
Adam M. Golodner,
Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service.
[FR Doc. 95-14003 Filed 6-7-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-15-M