Laserfiche WebLink
CRAPTERTWO Proposed Action and Alternatives <br />Process Water Supply System <br />Although the project would recycle water, make-up water is required to replace some of the <br />water that cannot be recycled. Consumptive water tosses occur at both plant sites and include <br />' such things as: <br />• water remaining in the solution mining cavity <br />' • boiler and cooling tower blowdown routed to the evaporation pond <br />various purges from processing equipment routed to the evaporation pond <br />• effluent from water treatment routed to the evaporation pond <br />• evaporative losses from processing equipment <br />' • plant water for toilets, sinks, cleaning, etc. <br />The project would have an average consumptive water use of about 1.6 cfs or 1,158 acre-feet per <br />' year of water. Use of Unocal's existing water right would provide process water to be taken <br />from the Colorado River via an existing intake located in the river neaz the town of Parachute <br />and from alluvial groundwater wells in the Parachute Valley. The existing water supply system <br />includes an intake structure, a grit basin, a 6-mile-long underground pipeline, and an existing, <br />lined water storage pond. From the pond, the water would enter the project water treatment plant <br />and would then be distributed as required. After being treated to remove impurities, some of the <br />' water would be used at the Parachute Site, and the remainder would be added to the recycled <br />water and pumped to the Piceance Site. Water would be used at the Pazachute Site by various <br />pieces of equipment and for the water supply to buildings. Other than some stormwater runoff, <br />there would be no off-site wastewater discharge in the commercial phase. <br />Due to the hardness of the water and its adverse affects on the processes involved, the water must <br />' be processed to remove the majority of the calcium and magnesium. Water treatment would <br />include lime softening and reverse osmosis. The water would be treated at the Parachute Site <br />and the treated water required at the Piceance Site would be pumped to the upper plant site. <br />' Effluents from the water treatment process would be pumped into the Parachute Site evaporation <br />pond. <br />Electrical Power <br />Public Service Company of Colorado would provide electric power to the Parachute Site via an <br />' existing 230-kV line originating from its Pazachute Substation. One existing substation at the <br />Parachute Site would be refurbished/reconstructed, and a new secondary substation would be <br />constructed to serve the process building. Emergency natural gas-fired generators would be <br />available to supply electricity during outages or other unforeseen emergency situations. <br />' Hazardous Materials <br />Table 2-5 lists the hazardous materials that are expected to be used for construction and operation <br />of the Yankee Gulch Project, and it includes the storage location and quantity of materials stored. <br />Hazardous materials would be properly stored and identified within the storage buildings at the <br />' 2-17 <br />