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<br /> <br />City of Elk River <br />REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION <br />Agenda Section Meeting Date <br />Worksession March 13,2006 <br />Item Description <br />Northern Lights Expansion Project - Natural Gas Pipeline <br />Pro' ect <br /> <br />Item Number <br />5.5. <br /> <br />Prepared by <br />Rebecca Hau , Environmental Admin <br />Reviewed by <br /> <br />Introduction <br />Northern proposes to expand its natural gas transmission system to provide incremental ftrm service of <br />350,000-400,000 dekatherms (measurement of volume of natural gas) in Northern's market area. <br /> <br />Discussion <br />Northern is seeking authority to construct a facility in the following area in the City of Elk River: <br /> <br />. Replace approximately 3.3 miles of 3-inch diameter pipeline loop with lO-inch-diameter pipeline <br />in Sherburne and Wright counties (Elk River/St. Michael) - see attached map. <br /> <br />Some of the potential environmental issues that have been identifted with this project include: <br /> <br />. Potential impacts to the Mississippi River; <br />. Potential impacts to wetlands; <br />. Safety concerns of the pipeline; <br />. Potential impacts on agricultural land and prime farmland; and <br />. Potential impacts on historic resources. <br /> <br />Staff has looked at all of the above environmental issues to determine what the potential impacts may be. <br />The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be reviewing the impacts to the Mississippi River. <br />There are several wetlands that will be impacted so the applicant will be required to go through the <br />Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) process. The applicant will also be required to apply for a Street <br />Disruption permit through the city. It appears that the pipeline will not affect any areas identifted in the <br />city's Natural Resource Inventory. However, the pipeline will be impacting one known historical <br />resource in the City. It is known as 21SHaj which signiftes that lithic scatter from making tools has been <br />identifted. <br /> <br />The comment period ends on March 24, 2006. Staff will be commenting on the above environmental <br />issues. <br /> <br />Financial Impact <br />N/A <br /> <br />C:\Documents and Settings\tallard\Local Settings \ Temporary Internet Files\OLKF\REQUEST COUNCIL ACTION-northern pipeline. doc <br />