Final sitewide environmental assessment for continued development of Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 3 (NPR-3), Natrona County, Wyoming

Abstract

The Secretary of Energy is required by law to explore, prospect, conserve, develop, use, and operate the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves. The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-258), requires that the Naval Petroleum Reserves be produced at their maximum efficient rate (MER), consistent with sound engineering practices, for a period of six years. To fulfill this mission, DOE is proposing continued development activities which would include the drilling of approximately 250 oil production and injection (gas, water, and steam) wells, the construction of between 25 and 30 miles of associated gas, water, and steam pipelines, the installation of several production and support facilities, and the construction of between 15 and 20 miles of access roads. These drilling and construction estimates include any necessary activities related to the operation of the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC). The purpose of RMOTC will be to provide facilities and necessary support to government and private industry for testing and evaluating new oilfield and environmental technologies, and to transfer these results to the petroleum industry through seminars and publications. Continued development activities either have no potential to result in adverse environmental impacts or would only result in adverse impacts that could be readily mitigated. The small amounts of disturbed surface area will be reclaimed to its original natural state when production operations terminate. The preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and the DOE is issuing this Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). 73 refs.