[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38530-38531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-18924]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Docket No. CP96-610-000]


Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc., Notice of Availability of 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Granite State 
LNG Project

July 14, 1997.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 
on the construction and operation of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) 
peak shaving facility proposed by Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc. 
in the above-referenced docket.
    The FEIS was prepared to satisfy the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. The staff concludes that approval of the 
proposed project, with the mitigating measures we have recommended, 
including receipt of necessary permits and approvals, would have 
limited environmental impact and would be an environmentally acceptable 
action. The FEIS evaluates alternatives to the proposal, including 
system alternatives and alternative sites for the storage facility and 
the permanent access road. Solely from an environmental perspective, 
the use of capacity available in 1999 on proposed pipelines would be an 
environmentally preferable alternative to providing the proposed peak 
shaving capacity.

[[Page 38531]]

    Granite State is seeking approval of a specific site in Wells, 
Maine to store LNG that would be transported by tanker trucks from 
Everett, Massachusetts. The LNG would be vaporized as needed and the 
natural gas delivered into Granite State's existing pipeline system or 
the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System. The proposed action 
involves construction of:
     A 580,000-barrel LNG storage tank (equivalent to 2 billion 
cubic feet of natural gas);
     Two truck unloading stations;
     Two 67 million cubic feet per day vaporizers;
     A vapor handling system;
     A 12-inch-diameter sendout pipeline; and
     A new 1.4-mile-long permanent access road to the storage 
facility site from State Route 9.
    In addition, Granite State proposes to upgrade and temporarily use 
an existing 1.1-mile-long dirt road for access into the storage 
facility site during the initial stages of construction.
    The purpose of the proposed facilities would be to provide a 
134,000 million British thermal units per day peak shaving service.
    The FEIS has been placed in the public files of the FERC and is 
available for public inspection at:

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Public Reference and Files 
Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street, N.E., Room 2A, Washington, DC 
20426, (202) 208-1371

      and

Town Manager's Office, Town Hall, Wells, ME 04090, (207) 646-5113.

    Copies of the FEIS have been mailed to Federal, state and local 
agencies; public interest groups; interested individuals; newspapers; 
and parties to this proceeding. A limited number of copies of the FEIS 
are available from the Public Reference and Files Maintenance Branch 
identified above.
    Additional information about the proposed project is available from 
Paul McKee in the Commission's Office of External Affairs at (202) 202-
1888.
Lois D. Cashell,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 97-18924 Filed 7-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-M