The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) today released its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation’s (AGDC) Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline (ASAP) Project.
“Today’s publication of the Final SEIS for the ASAP Project is the culmination of extensive engineering and environmental work conducted under the management of AGDC,” said AGDC President Keith Meyer.
The ASAP Project consists of a natural Gas Conditioning Facility at Prudhoe Bay, a 733-mile long, 36-inch diameter mainline pipeline, and a 30-mile-long, 12-inch lateral line connecting the mainline to Fairbanks. Initial design work on the ASAP Project began in 2010 at the direction of the Alaska Legislature to address potential gas shortages in Alaska’s major cities.
Subsequent to the commencement of the regulatory work on the ASAP Project, Alaska’s major North Slope producers proposed a larger diameter pipeline and an LNG export facility (Alaska LNG). AGDC joined the Alaska LNG Project in 2014 and assumed control of the project in 2017. AGDC elected to continue to pursue the ASAP regulatory process to completion in order to have an assured pipeline alternative to provide gas to Alaskan communities, and to help expedite approval of the Alaska LNG Project.
The ASAP Project and Alaska LNG Project share many similar characteristics. Both include buried pipelines, share a common mainline alignment for over 80 percent of the route, and provide gas to Alaskans. The Alaska LNG Project, however, includes a liquefaction component, which will enable the export of Alaska’s vast, proven, North Slope natural gas resources through LNG exports to buyers across the Asia-Pacific region.
“AGDC is advancing two North Slope gas pipeline projects on parallel paths but only one will be built,” said AGDC Senior Vice President Frank Richards. “We have avoided duplication of work efforts and both projects have benefited from data sharing. The Final SEIS for the ASAP Project sets the stage for AGDC to build a pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska and better positions the Alaska LNG Project for success. AGDC will leverage this federal approval in our work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to advance the Alaska LNG Project expeditiously as the federal agencies are now intimately familiar with the environmental conditions along the common alignment.”
The ASAP Final SEIS issued by the USACE today, along with the forthcoming Record of Decision, will result in three additional federal authorizations to occur later this summer that will provide tremendous benefit to both projects. These include a USACE-approved wetlands mitigation plan that will satisfy the requirements of the Clean Water Act, a signed Programmatic Agreement for cultural resources between tribes, agencies, and AGDC that will satisfy the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), and a federal Grant of Right-of-Way (ROW) that will be issued to AGDC from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that will allow a natural gas pipeline to be constructed and operated on BLM-managed lands.
_________________
AGDC is an independent, public corporation of the State of Alaska. Advancing the development and construction of a North Slope natural gas pipeline and LNG export project is its top priority. AGDC is charged with securing a long-term energy supply for Alaskans. Visit www.agdc.us for up to date information.