Response No.                                      Response

   474   The Department does not predict measurable impacts to nearby water
welts fromn the
         proposed mitigation pumping at Martin Springs, Upper Pickerel Creek,
or Creek 12-9.

   475   DEIS Figures 1-20 and 1-21 indicated the proposed surface water
and groundwater
         monitoring sites that would be required by the permitting process.
Several of the sites ark
         within Ainsworth Township.

   476   DEIS Fig. 1-26 showed a mitigation pipeline to Martin Springs from
a proposed well. DEIS"
         Table 3-23 indicated about 3 acres of forested wetlands would be
disturbed by mitigation
         corridors for pipelines and powerlines, and the discussion on DEIS
page 145 indicated a
         total of 17 acres for mitigation corridors would be disturbed. The
Martin Springs
         powerlines and pipeline corridors would have no appreciable impact
on deer wintering in
         the area.

   477   Construction of the well and installation of the buried power line,
and discharge pipeline t'
         Martin Springs could cause disturbance to the nearby eagles during
nesting activity.
         Therefore, construction would not be scheduled during the nesting
season. Subsequent
         operation of the facility is not believed to be a disturbance to
future eagle nesting activity

   478   The standards that apply to the Swamp Creek discharge were established
to protect all
          aquatic life in that stream. In some cases, zooplankton species
are not the most sensitive
          organisms in terms of impacts from toxic pollutants. In situations
where fish or
          macroinvertebrates are more sensitive than zooplankton species,
the standards would be
          set to protect those organisms. In still other cases (e.g., mercury),
more stringent limits
          were applied to protect human health.

   479   See responses #349 and 496.

          Certain background levels for heavy metals already exist in Swamp
Creek and the Wolf
          River (DEIS Table 3-21). The quality of the existing stream water
cannot be considered
          pure (i.e., like distilled water or uncontaminated rain water).
Furthermore, the
          Department has conducted a stream classification of Swamp Creek
based on its habitat...
          characteristics. As a result of the stream classification, Swamp
Creek has been confirme
          to support a variety of aquatic organisms, as well as recreational
uses. Water quality
          criteria were established to protect recreational uses and aquatic
organisms, which
          includes the entire food chain.

          Since all contaminants in the effluent would not be removed from
the wastewater, zero
          discharge of pollutants would not occur. Some measurable increases
in heavy metals would
          occur in Swamp Creek below the discharge as a result of the addition
of Exxon' s effluents
          Adverse impacts to the aquatic biota in Swamp Creek are not expected
to result because o
          the extremely small increases in heavy metals concentrations. Very
little or no
          measurable changes in concentrations would be expected to occur
to the Wolf River (refer
          to table 3-21).

   480   An analysis of impacts to tourism has been included in the FEIS.

   481   DEIS Table 2-36 has been changed to reflect the different Elcho
K-12 school capacity of
          525 students. Annual projections of with-project and without-project
enrollment by school
          district were presented on DEIS Table 3-47. During the final year
of project construction,
          enrollment in the Elcho district is projected to increased by 52
students, and during the
          operations period, by about 38 students. While the projections
are subject to uncertainty,
          they do indicate that the Elcho School, with its reduced capacity,
would remain slightly
          under capacity if the project were implemented.

   482   Comment acknowledged. The FEIS contains an expanded analysis of
transportation impacts.



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