Federal law requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) before construction of the Santee Cooper's proposed Pee Dee Coal Plant can be built. The EIS is required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will be conducted by a consultant employed by Santee Cooper.
While this is one of many permit processes required before the project can move forward, this is an especially important stage because the EIS requires a thorough analysis of alternatives to the proposed project.
Two "scoping" meetings will be held in Conway and Florence, respectively, later this month. These meetings help determine how thorough the EIS will end up being. It is very important, for example, that the consultants are requested to explore ALL alternatives to the present proposal and that specific alternatives are explicitly proposed at these meetings. The more thorough the EIS ends up being, the more useful a tool it will be for those considering issuing a permit. For instance, the EIS may end up indicating that the proposed coal plant is NOT the right project for Florence County.
These scoping meetings are THE chance for the public to make sure the EIS is as thorough as possible.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Coastal
in the
Thursday, September 27, 2007
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
in the Commons Area and the Auditorium
In addition, a website has been established for the EIS process; check it frequently to monitor this complicated process: http://www.peedeepowereis.com/
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