The Federal EIS predicts that 1,860 temporary construction jobs will be generated to develop 600 MWe within the State. That would result in 444 permanent maintenance jobs and almost $40 Million dollars salaries per annum.
The analysis is located on page 487 of the third appendix. The link is here.
The Programmatic EIS looks at 9,000 plus acres requested for development in an area proximal to the North Cascades National Park. This project is a development proposed by Vulcan Power. The analysis begins on page 351
The pending noncompetitive lease applications were filed by Vulcan Power Corporation in 2000. It is expected that issuing all of the leases in this area would result in two binary power plants at capacities of 30 and 20 megawatts. It is expected that a 30 megawatt plant would result in 15 acres of land disturbance, and a 20 megawatt plant would result in 10 acres of land disturbance for a total disturbance of 25 acres. Existing Forest Service roads would be used to access the sites. Exploration activities for a 20 megawatt plant and a 30 megawatt plant is expected to involve approximately 12 temperature gradient holes, disturbing approximately 0.15 acre each, for a total disturbance of approximately 2 acres.
Four pending lease applications are included within this area:
• WAOR 056025 – 2,403 acres comprise portions of three adjacent sections of land and a full fourth section 0.25 mile to the west. The legal description of this land is (1) T38N R8E S36; (2) T38N R9E S19, “part so of wilderness”; (3) T38N R9E S30, parts E2, E2W2,Lots 1-4; (4) T38N R9E S31, parts E2, E2W2, Lots 1-4.• WAOR 056027 – 2,560 acres comprised of four contiguous sections of land. The legal description of this land is (1) T37N R8E S11; (2) T1S T37N R8E S13; (3) T37N R8E S14; (4) T37N R8E S24.
• WAOR 056028 – 2,544.970 acres comprised of four contiguous sections of land. The legal description of this land is (1) T37N R8E S10, “pt outside NRA”; (2) T37N R8E S15; (3) T37N R8E S22; (4) T37N R8E S23.
* WAOR 056029 – 1,941.920 acres comprised of four contiguous sections of land with a portion of each excluded due to the excluded land being a National Recreation Area. The legal description of this land is (1) T37N R8E S16, “pt outside NRA”; (2) T37N R8E S17, “pt outside NRA”; (3) T37N R8E S20, “pt outside NRA”; (4) T37N R8E S21, “pt outside NRA”.
The lease sites range in elevation from 800 feet to 3,400 feet above mean sea level and are traversed by several creeks, roads and trails. Other land uses include several gravel pits and quarries. There are no known buildings within the lease sites or within 0.5 mile of any of the lease sites.
The U.S. Dept. of Interior has moved forward with opening additional lands for geothermal development in the Cascades. The action follows on a multi year EIS conducted by Interior. Lands available for leasing will NOT include Wilderness areas and National Parks. Initial lease sales will take place in December, 2008 for properties on the eastern slope of the Southern Cascades in Central Oregon and Idaho. Additional properties throughout the Western United States, and Washington can be nominated by geothermal developers.
A link to the Dept. of Interior report is here.
From the Interior Press Release
….the initiative could produce 5,540 megawatts of new electric generation capacity from geothermal resources by 2015. That’s enough to meet the power needs of 5.5 million homes. The plan also estimates an additional 6,600 megawatts by 2025 for a total of 12,100 megawatts – enough to power more than 12 million homes.
When put into action by a Record of Decision, the plan would identify about 118 million acres of Bureau of Land Management managed public lands and 79 million acres of National Forest System lands for future geothermal leasing….