Big Hanaford Power Plant, Washington

E & E prepared permit applications and coordinated NEPA and SEPA compliance for TransAlta Corporation’s Big Hanaford 248-MW gas fired combined cycle power plant near Centralia.  E & E worked closely with Lewis County to prepare a comprehensive Expanded SEPA Environmental Checklist that documented potential environmental impacts from facility air emissions, wastewater discharges, wetland disturbance, and traffic.  The Expanded SEPA Checklist was submitted within three months of project initiation, and Lewis County issued a Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance for the project based on our SEPA document.  Because the new power plant was planned to interconnect with BPA’s Paul substation, E & E prepared an abbreviated summary of the SEPA document which BPA later adopted without changes to comply with their obligations under NEPA for the interconnection.  We also prepared a biological assessment (BA) and an essential fish habitat (EFH) assessment to meet requirements of the Endangered Species Act.