[Federal Register: August 29, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 168)]
[Notices]
[Page 52048-52049]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29au03-79]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Coast Guard
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Maritime Administration
[USCG-2002-14134]
Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS, and Maritime Administrative, DOT.
ACTION: Final environmental impact statement, notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration announce
the availability of the final environmental impact statement for the
Port Pelican LLC Deepwater Port License Application. We request your
input on this final environmental impact statement, which covers the
construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas deepwater port
known as ``Port Pelican'' and associated anchorage on the Outer
Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 36 miles south
southwest of Freshwater City, Louisiana.
DATES: The final environmental impact statement (FEIS) will be
available on August 29, 2003. Comments must reach the Coast Guard on or
before October 2, 2003.
ADDRESSES: The FEIS will be available in the docket on the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov under docket number USCG-2002-14134 or by contacting
the U.S. Coast Guard as indicated under
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Comments may be submitted in several
ways. To make sure your comments and related material are not entered
more than once in the docket, please submit them by only one of the
following means:
(1) Electronically through the Web site for the Docket Management
System at http://dms.dot.gov.
(2) By mail to the Docket Management Facility (USCG-2002-14134),
U.S. Department of Transportation, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20590-0001.
(3) By fax to the Docket Management Facility at (202) 493-2251.
(4) By delivery to Room PL-401 on the Plaza Level of the Nassif
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington DC between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is (202) 366-9329.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
notice. Comments will become part of this docket and will be available
along with the FEIS for inspection or copying at Room PL-401, located
on the Plaza Level of the Nassif Building at the above address between
9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays.
You may also view this docket, including this notice and comments, on
the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions about the
project, you may contact Commander Mark Prescott, U.S. Coast Guard at
(202) 267-0225 or mprescott@comdt.uscg.mil. If you have questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, call Andrea M. Jenkins,
Program Manager, Docket Operations, telephone (202) 366-0271.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1504(f).
Request For Comments
We encourage you to submit comments on this FEIS. If you do so,
please include your name and address, identify this notice (USCG-2002-
14134), and give the reason for each comment. You may submit your
comments by mail, hand delivery, fax or electronic means to the Docket
Management Facility at the address given under ADDRESSES, but please
submit your comments and materials by only one means. If you submit
them by mail or hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no
larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing. If you submit them by mail, and would like to know if they
reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard
or envelope. We will consider all comments received during the comment
period.
Proposed Action
The application plan calls for construction of the Port Pelican
Deepwater Port and associated anchorage in an area situated in the Gulf
of Mexico approximately 36 miles south southwest of Freshwater City,
Louisiana, in Vermilion Block 140. Additional information on the
application can be found on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov under
docket number USCG-2002-14134, or in the notice of application
published in the Federal Register at 67 FR 79234 (Dec. 27, 2002).
The proposed project would deliver natural gas to the United States
Gulf Coast using existing gas supply and gathering systems in the Gulf
of Mexico and southern Louisiana. Gas would then be delivered to
shippers using the national pipeline grid through interconnections with
major interstate and intrastate pipelines.
The project would consist of the Port Pelican Terminal (the
Terminal), an LNG receiving, storage and regasification facility and
the Pelican Interconnector Pipeline (PIPL) to transport the gas to the
existing offshore gas gathering system.
The project would consist of two concrete gravity based structure
(GBS) units fixed to the seabed, which would include integral LNG
storage tanks, support deck mounted LNG receiving and vaporization
equipment and utilities, berthing accommodations for LNG carriers,
facilities for delivery of natural gas to a pipeline transportation
system, and personnel accommodations.
The Terminal would be able to receive the largest LNG carriers in
service or on order in 2002. LNG carrier arrival frequency will be
planned to match specified terminal gas delivery rates. All marine
systems, communication, navigation aids and equipment necessary to
conduct safe LNG carrier operations and receiving of product during
specified atmospheric and sea states would be provided at the port.
The regasification process would consist of lifting the LNG from
storage tanks, pumping the cold liquid to pipeline pressure,
vaporization across heat exchanging equipment and delivery through
custody transfer metering to the gas pipeline network. No gas
conditioning would be required for the Terminal since the incoming LNG
would be pipeline quality.
A 42-inch diameter offshore PIPL, 37 nautical miles in length,
would be constructed as part of the project. The PIPL would transport
gas from the Terminal to a point near the Tiger Shoal Platform ``A''
where it would connect to Henry-Floodway Gas Gathering System (HFGGS).
The HFGGS would deliver the gas to the onshore U.S. gas pipeline
network.
The Terminal would be constructed in two phases. Phase I would
include the installation of two GBS units with internal storage tanks
and facilities for LNG offloading, and vaporization capability to
deliver a peak 1.0 billion standard cubic feet per day (SCFD) of
[[Page 52049]]
natural gas to the pipeline system. Additional vaporization equipment
and associated support equipment and facilities would be installed
during Phase II to increase the facility vaporization and send out rate
to 2.0 billion SCFD peak.
Alternatives
The FEIS examines in detail an alternative location for siting of
the project and a no action alternative. The alternative site,
approximately 30 miles east of Vermilion Block 140, would involve use
of South Marsh Island Block 4. Evaluation of the no action alternative,
defined as not approving the license application, provides a baseline
for comparing the impacts associated with the proposed action and use
of the alternative site.
Dated: August 29, 2003.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Director of Standards, Marine Safety, Security, and Environmental
Protection, U.S. Coast Guard.
Raymond R. Barberesi,
Director, Office of Ports and Domestic Shipping, Maritime
Administration.
[FR Doc. 03-22139 Filed 8-28-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-81-P