Issued on: November 22, 2005
DOE Reopens Public Comment Period to Expand the Nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Additional Scoping Meeting Scheduled and Comment Period Extended
Washington, DC – An additional Federal Register notice has been published to reopen the public scoping period and hold a public scoping meeting to discuss expanding the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The new public scoping period is now extended through December 19, 2005, and a public scoping meeting is scheduled for December 7, 2005, in Port Gibson, Mississippi.
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- Read the Federal Register Notice
[10KB PDF]
- Learn more about DOE's efforts to expand the SPR
| | The Department of Energy previously published two Notices of Intent in the Federal Register on September 1 and September 28, 2005, to solicit comments regarding the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and to hold a series of public scoping meetings for the proposed expansion of the SPR. The initial scoping period closed on October 28, 2005. On October 27, 2005, the Governor of Mississippi requested the Secretary of Energy to include a new site at Bruinsburg Salt Dome in the analysis of potential sites and environmental impacts for the proposal to expand the storage capacity of the SPR.
The recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the Secretary of Energy to select sites to expand the SPR capacity to one billion barrels – the volume necessary to enable acquisition of the full authorized inventory of the SPR. The selection process is dictated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. DOE will prepare the EIS to evaluate the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion from its current 727 million barrels by utilizing expansion potential at three of its existing oil storage sites and through the development of a new oil storage site.
DOE proposes to expand existing storage capacity at West Hackberry (up to an additional 15 million barrels), Bayou Choctaw (up to an additional 30 million barrels), and Big Hill (up to an additional 108 million barrels), and by developing one new oil storage site with up to 160 million barrels of storage capacity at either Clovelly or Chacahoula, Louisiana; or Bruinsburg Salt Dome or Richton, Mississippi; or Stratton Ridge, Texas.
The proposed expansions of existing SPR facilities would in general utilize existing infrastructure and existing pipelines of the oil storage site. The development of a new oil storage site would include the construction of offsite infrastructure and pipelines for water supply, brine disposal, and for crude oil receipt and distribution.
The Notice lists the date and location of the public scoping meeting and requests public comment on the proposed scope and content of the EIS from all interested parties. Written comments must be received or postmarked by December 19, 2005, and oral comments are invited at the public scoping meeting.
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