GUERNSEY supported SGS, L.L.C. and Calpine Corporation, performing a variety of engineering and environmental studies focused on the water and wastewater infrastructure (intake structure, pipelines, reservoir) of the 1,000 MW gas-fired power generation facility near Coweta, OK.
Water supply for the generation facility was proposed to come from an oxbow of the Verdigris River, be stored and receive primary settling from an off-line reservoir and then treated at the Rural Water District #4 treatment facility. Wastewater from the energy facility was proposed to be discharged to a tributary of Coal Creek and ultimately to the Verdigris River. Additional analysis by GUERNSEY and INCOG indicated that discharge to Coal Creek was not viable because of flow, dissolved oxygen, and temperature restrictions. The discharge would have to go to the Arkansas River.
Environmental and engineering support included water quality sampling, 404 permitting, OPDES permitting, and NEPA clearance for a Tulsa District Corps of Engineers’ easement on the banks of the Verdigris River Oxbow. The NEPA environmental assessment (EA) included a major effort to obtain the Corps’ clearance for the easement. Issues included:
- Water supply intake structure
- Water resources impacts
- Cultural resources related to the pipeline alignments
- Wastewater discharge to the Arkansas River (OPDES permit).
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The NEPA EA resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact.
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