500 KV International Transmission Line NSP-TR-1, Forbes, Minnesota to Manitoba, Canada, Northern States Power Company. Final Environmental Impact Statement

摘要

A 500-kV transmission line is proposed by the Northern States Power Company (NSP) to provide a transmission facility for the exchange of electrical energy between Canada and the United States. The transmission facility would permit the sale of energy to the Northern States Power Company and Minnesota Power and Light company (MPL) during the summer peak-demand periods and to the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board during winter peak-demand periods. The U.S. portion of the proposed line will extend a distance of approximately 200 miles from the Forbes substation in St. Louis Co., Minnesota, to the U.S.--Canadian border approximately 7.5 miles west of Worroad in Roseau County. The line will traverse 114 miles of state-owned land, 35 miles of county-owned land, 44 miles of private land, 9 miles of land owned by mining companies, and 0.9 mile of federal lands. The natural plant communities along the line consist mostly of spruce-fir, aspen-birch and pine forests, various conifer-bog associations and shrub associations. The line also traverses extensive areas of swamp forests and extensive bog areas of the glacial Lake Agassiz. The impact of the construction, operation and maintenance of this power transmission live on land and water use, flora and fauna, and human communities was assessed and is reported. It was concluded that the construction and operation of the proposed transmission line is environmentally acceptable, and would be far less damaging to the environment than the construction of a new power plant in Minnesota to meet peak power demands. (ERA citation 04:022692)