9.13.18 Legal Notice

CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DETERMINATION
 
For the City of Newcastle, Wyoming – Madison Well 5 Completion Project,
Weston County, Wyoming
 
The Department of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division (DEQ) has conducted a review of the proposed City of Newcastle Madison Well 5 Completion project in accordance with EPA and State of Wyoming procedures for implementing the State Environmental Review Process. DEQ has determined that this project is eligible for a categorical exclusion. Accordingly, DEQ is exempting the project from further substantive environmental review requirements under the State Environmental Review Process.  Neither an Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact nor an Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision will be required for the proposed action. The following is a brief description of the situation and the proposed action and a brief statement of how the action meets the criteria for a categorical exclusion.
This project will tie the recently drilled Madison Well No. 5 into the existing Newcastle water system. The additional water produced from the No. 5 well will allow the City of Newcastle to meet increasing demands on their system, and allow existing wells to be taken off line for maintenance and/or recovery purposes. This project will also replace the water lines from Newcastle’s well nos. 1 and 4 which are very old and need of replacement. Modifications to the existing pump station by the addition of a rock strainer, fourth booster pump and chlorination system may also be constructed. Based on current estimates, the City of Newcastle plans to borrow $705,680 from the Wyoming Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund at 2.5% Interest for 30 years or a payment of $16,857.80 per year for 30 years. The expense of repayment of the loan will be accounted for in the water rates.  
The City of Newcastle is aware of and accepts the fact that they will be responsible for any required mitigative actions associated with and including storm water runoff, erosion control, archeological/historic artifacts, and air quality concerns.  These will be part of the standard State Revolving Funds Program contract conditions.
DEQ is granting a categorical exclusion because: 1) the well completion phase of the project is located within previously disturbed acreage on which a Finding of No Significant Impact was previously issued; 2) is located within an existing road; and 3) consists of a minor expansion to or replacement of an existing system near existing infrastructure. This project will be completely constructed in previously disturbed ground. DEQ has determined that exempting the proposed project from further review under the State Environmental Review Process will not result in adverse impacts to the population or the area of Newcastle and Weston County, Wyoming.
The documentation to support this decision will be on file in the DEQ Cheyenne Office and is available for public scrutiny upon request.  Comments concerning this decision may be addressed to Stanley Miller, SRF Project Engineer, DEQ Cheyenne Office, 200 W. 17th Street, Cheyenne WY 82002, telephone (307) 777-6371, FAX (307) 635-1784, email stanley.miller@wyo.gov
 
(Publish September 13, 2018)