WILLOW CREEK WIND ENERGY FACILITY

The Western Area Power Administration (Western), an agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), has prepared a draft environmental assessment (EA) on the proposed interconnection of the Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility (Project) in Butte County, near the city of Newell, South Dakota. Wind Quarry Operations, LLC (Wind Quarry), has applied to WAPA to interconnect their proposed Project to WAPA’s power transmission system.

This EA addresses WAPA’s Federal action of interconnecting the proposed Project to WAPA’s transmission system and making any necessary modification to WAPA facilities to accommodate the interconnection. The EA also includes a review of the potential environmental impacts of  Wind Quarry, constructing, operating, and maintaining a 103-megawatt (MW) nameplate capacity wind power generating facility, consisting of approximately 45 wind turbines, associated access roads, a new collector substation, an operations and maintenance facility, temporary staging areas, and associated transmission interconnection facilities.

Comments or requests for the draft EA may be submitted by letter to WAPA at P.O Box 35800, Billings, Montana 59107, by phone at (406) 255-2812, or by email to Lou Hanebury at hanebury@wapa.gov. Please refer to the Willow Creek Wind Project in your correspondence.

Dates: The public comment period closes on September 9, 2016.

DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

• Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility Draft EA  (10.65mb pdf)

FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

• Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility Final EA (14mb pdf)
• Willow Creek Wind Energy Facility FONSI (314kb pdf)