BP Cherry Point Cogeneration Project, Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Technical Report · Fri Sep 19 00:00:00 EDT 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/823175· OSTI ID:823175

BP West Coast Products, LLC (BP or the Applicant) proposes to construct and operate a nominal 720-megawatt (MW), natural-gas-fired, combined-cycle cogeneration facility next to the existing BP Cherry Point Refinery in Whatcom County, Washington. The Applicant also owns and operates the refinery, but the cogeneration facility and the refinery would be operated as separate business units. The cogeneration facility and its ancillary infrastructure would provide steam and 85 MW of electricity to meet the operating needs of the refinery and 635 MW of electrical power for local and regional consumption. The proposed cogeneration facility would be located between Ferndale and Blaine in northwestern Whatcom County, Washington. The Canadian border is approximately 8 miles north of the proposed project site. The Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) has jurisdiction over the evaluation of major energy facilities including the proposed project. As such, EFSEC will recommend approval or denial of the proposed cogeneration facility to the governor of Washington after an environmental review. On June 3, 2002, the Applicant filed an Application for Site Certification (ASC No. 2002-01) with EFSEC in accordance with Washington Administrative Code (WAC) 463-42. On April 22, 2003, the Applicant submitted an amended ASC that included, among other things, a change from air to water cooling. With the submission of the ASC and in accordance with the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) (WAC 463-47), EFSEC is evaluating the siting of the proposed project and conducting an environmental review with this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Because the proposed project requires federal agency approvals and permits, this EIS is intended to meet the requirements under both SEPA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) also will use this EIS as part of their respective decision-making processes associated with the Applicant's request to interconnect to Bonneville's transmission system and proposed location of the project within wetland areas. Therefore, this Draft EIS serves as the environmental review document for SEPA and for NEPA as required by Bonneville for the interconnection and the Corps for its 404 individual permit. The EIS addresses direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the proposed project, and potential mitigation measures proposed by the Applicant, as well as measures recommended by EFSEC. The information and resulting analysis presented in this Draft EIS are based primarily on information provided by the Applicant in the ASC No. 2002-01 (BP 2002). Where additional information was used to evaluate the potential impacts associated with the proposed action, that information has been referenced. EFSEC's environmental consultant, Shapiro and Associates, Inc., did not perform additional studies during the preparation of this Draft EIS.

• Research Organization: U.S. Department of Energy; Bonneville Power Administration Bonneville (US); Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42) (US)
• OSTI ID: 823175
• Report Number(s): DOE/EIS-0349; TRN: US200417%%174
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 19 Sep 2003
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
BUSINESS
COGENERATION
DECISION MAKING
ELECTRICITY
ENERGY FACILITIES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
EVALUATION
MITIGATION
STEAM
US CORPS OF ENGINEERS
US NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
WATER
WETLANDS
EIS
CHERRY POINT
WA