[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 5888]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-2612]



[[Page 5888]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Lake McDonald/Park Headquarters Wastewater Treatment System 
Rehabilitation Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Glacier National 
Park, Montana

AGENCY:  National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION:  Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 
for the Lake McDonald/Park Headquarters Wastewater Treatment System 
Rehabilitation, Glacier National Park, Montana.

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SUMMARY:  Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service announces the 
availability of a DEIS for the Lake McDonald/Park Headquarters 
Wastewater Treatment System Rehabilitation, Glacier National Park, 
Montana.

DATES:  The DEIS will remain available for public review through March 
31, 2000. If any public meetings are held concerning the DEIS, they 
will be announced at a later date.

Comments

    If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. You may mail comments to Superintendent, Wastewater 
Project, Glacier National Park, West Glacier MT 59936. You may also 
comment via the Internet to www.nps.gov/glac. Please submit Internet 
comments as an ASCII file avoiding the use of special characters and 
any form of encryption. Please also include ``Attn: Wastewater 
Project'' and your name and return address in your Internet message. If 
you do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received 
your Internet message, contact us directly at Glacier National Park, 
(406) 888-7901. Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to Glacier 
National Park, Headquarters, West Glacier, MT. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents available 
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents 
may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which 
we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be 
circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

ADDRESSES:  Copies of the DEIS for the Wastewater Project are available 
from the Superintendent, Glacier National Park, West Glacier Montana 
59936. It is also available on the Internet at www.nps.gov/glac. Public 
reading copies of the DEIS will be available for review at the 
following locations:

Office of the Superintendent, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 
59936, Telephone: (406) 888-7901
Planning and Environmental Quality, Intermountain Support Office--
Denver, National Park Service, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287, 
Telephone: (303) 969-2851 [or (303) 969-2377]
Office of Public Affairs, National Park Service, Department of Interior 
18th and C Streets NW, Washington D.C. 20240, Telephone: (202) 208-6843

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) was prepared to address rehabilitation of the wastewater 
treatment system that currently serves the west side of Glacier 
National Park (Park). The service area for the existing wastewater 
treatment plant (WWTP) includes Park Headquarters and residences, 
campgrounds, Lake McDonald Lodge, and concession businesses and 
employee housing. The existing WWTP is no longer meeting its original 
treatment objective or operating at design capacity.The preferred 
alternative (Alternative 3) is to construct an advanced WWTP, with a 
land discharge site. This alternative would provide the greatest level 
of treatment and the highest water quality of the alternatives 
considered. Minimal new site disturbance would be necessary to 
implement the preferred alternative and the existing spray field in the 
floodplain of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River and McDonald Creek 
would no longer be used. Alternative 1A includes construction of an 
additional storage lagoon and a new spray field to discharge treated 
effluent. This would require clearing 6.5 hectares of undisturbed land 
and the existing spray field would continue to be used. Alternative 1B 
includes construction of two new storage lagoons and an additional 
aerated lagoon (3.6 hectares). The existing spray field would continue 
to be used. Alternative 2A includes construction of an advanced WWTP 
and a series of three rapid infiltration basins (3.6 hectares) to 
discharge treated effluent to the ground water. The existing spray 
field would no longer be used. The no action alternative (Alternative 
4) would continue operation of the existing WWTP and spray field. 
Occasional raw sewage spills are possible when storage capacity is 
exceeded and the spray field cannot be operated because of wet 
conditions. The details of the alternatives and potential impacts to 
wildlife, vegetation, and threatened and endangered species and 
benefits to water quality and Park and concession operations are 
described in this document and are summarized in Table 2. Estimated 
costs to implement the alternatives are presented in Table 1.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Superintendent, Glacier National Park 
at the above address and telephone number.

    Dated: January 28, 2000.
John A. King,
Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 00-2612 Filed 2-4-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P