A Fact Sheet and associated documents are available for review. For inquiries or to request copies of documents, contact:
DEC Contact:
Gerry R. Brown, PE
555 Cordova Street
AK 99501
907-269.4874
Gerry.Brown@alaska.gov
Draft Permit Public Notice Period:
Public Notice Start Date: March 22, 2013
Public Notice Expiration Date: May 22, 2013
Permit No.:
AKG315100
Permit Name:
Mobile Oil and Gas Exploration Facilities in State Waters in Cook Inlet
Proposed Permit Coverage:
Permit Coverage: General permit AKG315100 covers discharge of pollutants from mobile oil and gas exploration facilities in state waters in Cook Inlet. State waters include coastal waters north of the southern end of Kalgin Island and the landward side of the three nautical mile demarcation in the territorial sea. Discharges are prohibited within 4,000 meters of sensitive areas as defined by the permit.
Description of Discharges: Based on discharges applicable to mobile oil and gas exploration activities, the following wastewater discharges are authorized under the permit:
DISCHARGE NUMBER DISCHARGES DISCRIPTION
001 Drilling Fluids and Drill Cuttings
002 Deck Drainage 003 Domestic Wastewater
004 Graywater
005 Desalination Unit Wastes 006 Blowout Preventer Fluid 007 Boiler Blowdown 008 Fire Control System Test Water 009 Non-Contact Cooling Water 010 Uncontaminated Ballast Water 011 Bilge Water 012 Excess Cement Slurry 013 Mud, Cuttings, and Cement at the Seafloor
019 Test Fluids
Note: This permit does not authorize discharges from fixed oil and gas exploration facilities or development and production facilities.
Mixing Zone: General permit AKG315100 authorizes standard-size, 100 meter cylindrical mixing zones for discharges and parameters as follows:
- Drilling Fluids and Drill Cuttings (001) and Mud, Cuttings, and Cement at the Seafloor (013): The mixing zone applies to Aluminum, Antimony, Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Selenium, Silver, Thallium, and Zinc.
- Domestic Wastewater (003) and Graywater (004): The mixing zone applies to total residual chlorine upon request by the applicant.
- Miscellaneous discharges 005 through 011 as listed above that are chemically treated: The mixing zone is authorized for chronic whole effluent toxicity (WET).
- Test Fluids (019): The mixing zone applies to ammonia, metals, total aromatic hydrocarbons, total aqueous hydrocarbons, total inorganic substances and chronic WET.
Tentative Determination:
DEC has tentatively determined to issue a discharge permit for the activity described above. This permit will replace applicable exploration components of the expired 2007 general permit AKG-31-5000 – Oil and Gas Extraction Facilities in Federal and State Waters in Cook Inlet.
Public Comments:
Written comments or requests for a public hearing on the APDES draft general permit must be submitted within 60 days of the issuance of this public notice. Please direct written comments to the attention of Gerry R. Brown, PE at the address or email identified above. All comments should include the name, address, and telephone number of the commenter and a concise statement of comment on the permit condition(s) and the relevant facts upon which the comment is based. Comments of either support or concern which are directed at specific, cited permit requirements are appreciated. Mailed comments must be postmarked on or before the expiration date of the public notice.
DEC will consider all comments when making the final decision, and will respond to received comments in a Response to Comments document issued when DEC issues a final permit. The Response to Comments will be made available to the public.
While DEC is proposing to issue a permit for mobile oil and gas exploration in state waters, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is concurrently proposing to issue a counterpart general permit for oil and gas exploration in federal waters in Cook Inlet. The public comment period for the EPA permit coincides with the DEC permit. In addition, DEC and EPA will hold joint hearings at the following dates, times, and locations:
Public Hearings
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April 29, 2013
Kenai Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
11471 Kenai Spur Hwy
Kenai, AK 99611
6 PM – 9 PM
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April 30, 2013
Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge
Island & Ocean Visitor Center Auditorium
95 Sterling Highway, Suite 1
Homer, AK 99603
6 PM – 9 PM
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May 2, 2013
University of Alaska
Gorsuch Commons Building
Conference Room 106
3700 Sharon Gagnon Lane
Anchorage, AK 98508
6 PM – 9 PM
Teleconference Line: (866) 299-3188 code 9072711272#
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DEC will transmit the final permit, fact sheet (amended as appropriate), and Response to Comments to anyone who provided comments during the public review period or requested to be notified of DEC final decision.
DEADLINE FOR WRITTEN COMMENTS OR REQUEST FOR PUBLIC HEARING
May 22, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. ADT
Administrative Record:
The APDES draft permit, fact sheet, and associated documents are available for public review at the DEC offices located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Soldotna, and Wasilla. Please contact the office of your choice to arrange for hard copies of the documents to be available for your review.
555 Cordova Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
907-269-6285 |
610 University Avenue
Fairbanks, AK 99709
907-451-2100
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410 Willoughby Ave #303
Juneau, AK 99811
907-465-5300
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43335 Kalifornsky Beach Road
Soldotna, AK 99615
907-262-5210
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1700 E Bogard Road #B
Suite #103
Wasilla, AK 99654
907-376-1850
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If you would like to see any additional supporting technical documents, contact Gerry R. Brown.
The documents are also accessible from the DEC website at:
http://dec.alaska.gov/water/wwdp/index.htm
To receive email notifications about the APDES Program, including when permits are available to review, follow the link below to join the APDES email list.
http://dec.alaska.gov/water/npdes/npdes_email_list.htm
Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice
The State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. If you are a person with a disability who may need a special accommodation in order to participate in this public process, please contact Deborah Pock at (907) 269-0291 or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 within 30 days of publication of this notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.