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~-~tRW washn x x x accurate FOUR CORNERS GASIFICATION PILOT PLANT A tecr:ical committee in the Interior Department on Sept. 11 decid- ed to as], El paso Natural Gas Co. for more information about a coal gas- ification pilot plant it proposes to build in San Juan County, N.M. The $19 million plant would be located about 35 miles southwest of Farming- ton, N.M., on a portion of coal la~d presently under lease to El paso p~lot by the Navajo Tribe. Once built, thejplant would be operated experi- mentally for three years before El Paso scaled u~o a coal gasification plant at Four Corners producing 250 million cubic feet of gas per day. The pilot plant would produce 35 million cubic feet of gas per day, and its '~ter needs would be supplied by ground water. Does the federal government have to file an environmental impact (EIS) statement/on the construction of the pilot plant? El Paso claims such a filing is not necessary. But an Interior Department official told West- ern Resources Wrap-up this week the plant is a "border-line, marginal case. II Under the 1970 National Environmental Protection Act, an EIS must be prepared on all proposals which constitute "a major federal ac- tion with significant impact on the environment." Interior officials believe the construction of the pilot plant would represent a major fed- eral action, as the El paSO-Navajo lease would have to be modified. But Interior officials said the Department did not have enough information from El Paso to determine whether the pilot plant's construction and op- eration would have significant impact on the environment in the Four Corners area. They said El paso had not spelled out environmental im- pacts in an assessment on the pilot plant that it had prepared for In- terior. So more information is being asked El Paso by Interior about the environmental effects of the pilot plant. The Federal Po"er Commission on Sept. 4, acting on its at"m initia- tive, decided it does not have jurisidction over coal gasifiration prot jects producing synthetic gas. It took up the jurisdiction7question on April 30 after several sources, including vffiW, had pointed out failure of FPC to do so could delay a decision on this vital question for eever- al years. (See ~ffiW, Series IX, No. 16, 4-l9-73).FPC had bl0 a~plic~~?J pending, one by El paso and one by a group of companies affiliated with ~xas Eastern Transmission Corp. The Bureau of Reclamation is preparing an EIS on the tHO big coal "gas" plants proposed at Four Corners. The FPC staff notified Interior some months ago FPC probably would not take jurisdiction over them. -30-HCM-30- I I I I I I I . f , I I i I I I I I 0187