BPA/Puget Power Northwest Washington Transmission Project Final Environmental Impact Statement.
Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and Puget Sound Power & Light Company (Puget Power) propose to upgrade the existing high-voltage transmission system in the Whatcom and Skagit counties area between the towns of Custer and Sedro Woolley, including some areas within the City of Bellingham, starting in 1995. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the project was issued in November 1993, followed by a 45-day public comment period. Public response to the DEIS included the identification of several new transmission route alternatives in the Lake Whatcom area. BPA issued a Supplemental DEIS in April 1995 to provide a second public review-and-comment period. Rebuilding an existing 230-kV line to a double-circuit 230-kV transmission line was identified in the Supplemental DEIS as the Proposed Action. The Supplemental DEIS also examined in detail a North Shore Road alternative which was proposed by some members of the public. Public comments on the EIS were listed and responded to in the Supplemental DEIS. In May 1995, a second set of open houses and public meetings was held to review the Supplemental DEIS. Electromagnetic field (EMF) effects raised as an issue in the DEIS continued to be an issue of public concern in the meetings. The EIS has identified impacts that would generally be classified as low to moderate and localized. Effects on soils and water resources in sensitive areas (e.g., near Lake Whatcom) would be low to moderate; there would be little change in magnetic fields; noise levels would remain at existing levels; and land use and property value impacts would be minimal. Threatened and endangered species would not be adversely affected, and all proposed actions in wetlands would be covered by a Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit. Visual and socioeconomic would be low to moderate. There would be no effect on cultural resources.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, OR (United States); Whatcom, County of, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 95483
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-2658; ON: DE95017182; NC: None; DOE/EIS-0173; TRN: 95:006446
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Aug 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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