Basin lists alternate routes for power lines

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January 16, 2014 10:13 pm  •  By Lauren Donovan

This map shows the routes Basin Electric Power Cooperative prefers for getting electricity from its plant near Beulah to the oil patch. However, it does have alternative routes, both of which follow the yellow line, for getting the power to the same place.

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WATFORD CITY — A power company went back to the drawing board and came up with two alternate routes for a massive new transmission line. It solves some issues, but not the primary one of crossing the Killdeer Mountain battlefield.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative plans to send nearly 700 kilovolts of much-needed electricity to the Bakken oil patch from its power plant near Beulah.

On Thursday, Basin unveiled two new routes for getting there along with one the public has already seen.

A supplemental draft environmental impact statement was released at a public hearing in Watford City. It’s required because so many federal agencies are involved and the two alternatives are new.

The public can comment on it until Feb. 3.

All three alternatives will still cross eight miles of the Killdeer Mountains foothills west of the town of Killdeer. The path tracks through an area short-listed by the American Battlefield Protection Program as the most at-risk of all Civil War-era Indian battlefields. It is under study by a North Dakota State University heritage group to detail its history and condition.

The piece through the battlefield area can’t be avoided because Basin has to connect to a major substation called Charlie Creek near U.S. Highway 85 to the west, said Cris Miller, the co-op’s senior environmental manager.

Two strong voices of opposition were from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which was engaged by the U.S. military in the 1864 battle.

LaDonna Allard, the tribe historian whose ancestors were engaged with Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully in 1864, said she wants the project postponed until the battlefield boundaries are defined by the study.

She called the environmental document “appalling” for its lack of knowledge.

“This is a Civil War battlefield,” she said. “Why doesn’t North Dakota know its own history?”

She said Sioux burials remain there, including those of her relatives.

“We know where they are,” she said.

“Are we going to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the battle in the middle of this development?” she asked.

Sioux historic preservation officer Waste’ Win Young called the environmental study biased and incomplete.

“How can you in one document dispute the boundaries of the battlefield and then say, ‘Oh, this is where they buried their (war) dead?’” she said.

Heading north

The difference in the alternatives is how to move the power north and across Lake Sakakawea.

Basin wants to build two new power lines and load 345 kilovolts on each one — one traveling north along U.S. 85 from the substation and another backfeeding and then going north along N.D. Highway 22.

In two other alternatives, new in this study, it would use the backfeed route and either build two parallel lines along N.D. 22, or one that’s double-circuited on one support structure.

Each of the alternatives eventually would cross the Little Missouri River, on to Williston and then east toward Tioga.

Miller said Basin prefers two routes because of reliability. The miles between them could prevent both being involved in an outage at the same time, he said.

But Basin may not get what it wants.

The U.S. Forest Service, the Western Area Power Administration and the Rural Utilities Service all have to approve the project in separate records of decision.

The route Basin wants — the one with two distinct lines — would cross eight miles of U.S. Forest Service land and head past the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where it would be visible, but only with binoculars.

Jay Frederick, local ranger for the Forest Service, said the new alternatives changed the discussion for his agency.

The one Basin prefers would affect the agency’s Lone Butte roadless area and the national park. The other two don’t, he said.

The two new alternatives cross much more private land, financially benefiting individuals rather than the government — and the project’s bottom line. Frederick said his agency could decide whether it would issue a permit in as soon as a month.

“If we say ‘no,’ they have to go to the other routes,” he said.

Basin will spend about $500 million to construct the lines, Miller said. The electricity would add to about 270 megawatts of recently constructed power from three gas-fired turbines in the oil patch.

The company is trying to meet a demand for electricity that has doubled in recent projections.

Theodore Roosevelt Park Superintendent Valerie Naylor said industrial development is cumulative and she cautioned against too much.

“You reach a tipping point where you’ve changed the landscape so much, you’ve lost the value of it,” Naylor said

She said she’s glad to see alternatives that don’t visually impact the park, but said she’d prefer a project that didn’t affect the battlefield area.

The American Battlefield Protection Program is a National Park Service program.

Jan Swenson, director of the Badlands Conservation Alliance, represented her group at the sparsely attended hearing.

“I’m delighted to see two alternatives that avoid going past the national park,” she said.

As for the battlefield route remaining in play, she said: “One step at a time.”

Miller said Basin hopes to have a decision by mid-year. It is also awaiting a permit from the Public Service Commission. He said the PSC hasn’t seen the new alternatives and the co-op would have to make another route application for those.

Reach Lauren Donovan at 701-220-5511 or lauren@westriv.com.

http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/basin-lists-alternate-routes-for-power-lines/article_c50f0648-7f2d-11e3-af96-001a4bcf887a.html

Basin wants power line inside Killdeer Mountains battlefield study area

August 29, 2013 4:52 pm  •  By Lauren Donovan

This map represents a proposed transmission line and substation (in blue) that Basin Electric Power Cooperative plans to build through the Killdeer Mountain Battlefield site that will be studied in a National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program. The map also shows an extension (in pink) that Basin says it may also build to add stability to the Bakken oil patch power supply.

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BISMARCK, N.D. — The fight to preserve the Killdeer Mountain historic battlefield from oil development will move to another front, this time where a power company plans to build transmission lines and a substation in the heart of where the battle was fought.

Basin Electric Power Cooperative plans to build a new major line from its Antelope Valley Stations near Beulah west and north into the Bakken to help fill a huge appetite for electricity in the oil patch.

The transmission line route and a new substation would be located where the U.S. Army, led by Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully, and several bands of Sioux engaged in 1864.

It is an area just selected by the National Park Service for its American Battlefield Protection Program. The two-year study will be led by Tom Isern, history professor at North Dakota State University, who signed the contract days ago.

The Public Service Commission will hold a hearing at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Killdeer City Hall to decide whether to put the transmission project on a fast track. Basin is asking the PSC to waive certain procedures and timelines and approve the 200-mile route for spring construction.

Basin's project coordinator, Curt Pearson, said Basin has only known about the NPS study since Tuesday.

Pearson said Basin hired a contract archaeologist to inventory the area as part of its application and environmental process.

"No significant cultural sites were identified that would be impacted by this transmission line project," Pearson said. "Because this NPS study is a new development that came about after the required inventories and reports were completed and submitted to the review agencies, we have not had time to fully analyze the significance of this situation."

He said Basin hopes to come to a reasonable conclusion "as we work through this issue."

Isern said the study will look at battlefield history and archaeology and identify threats to its integrity. Some of the integrity involves aesthetics, he said.

"If they were going to situate a power line to provide maximum disruption to the sightline of this battlefield, this plan will do it," he said.

Rob Sand, who lives near the historic battlefield, is a member of the Killdeer Mountain Alliance. The alliance was formed to give a voice to the mountains and battlefield when Hess Corp. filed for permits to set an eight-well drilling pad near the battlefield early this year.

"It's one thing after another. It is alarming. We've loved it and taken it for granted," Sand said.

He said Isern's study coupled with a recent tour of significant sites in the oil patch by Gov. Jack Dalrymple, as a member of the state Industrial Commission that approves drilling permits, should give pause to Basin's plans.

"The Industrial Commission is at least pretending to be interested in protecting special places and with Isern's study, those two things say they should hold off and don't be putting something like that out there," Sand said. "If they're starting to consider special places, the state needs to support that."

Even as Basin goes through the formal process to build the new 345-kV line from its coal plant to the oil patch, it has filed notice that it wants to build a second line, using the alternate route studied for the one going through the PSC hearings next week.

The second line would kick off the new substation and be routed north through the battlefield zone toward the oil patch.

Basin spokesman Daryl Hill said the second line would provide more power to the oil patch region and build in some redundancy in case of a major outage.

"As power load studies have progressed, there's good cause for using that alternate as well," Hill said.

Isern said the study will document "what went down and where" during the battle, which he said is the largest Army and Plains Indian engagement to ever take place in the Great Plains.

"It was way bigger than (Custer's) Battle of the Little Bighorn. Sully came out with his mid-century modern warfare, formed a square and he had all he could handle. Eventually, he turned his howitzers on the women and children on the slopes," Isern said.

Sully brought 2,200 men to fight 1,600 Sioux. Twelve years later, Custer took 650 men to fight an estimated 900 to 2,500 Plains Indians.

The NDSU study will look at the historical significance of five known battlefields in North Dakota, including Killdeer Mountain, for possible inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Hill said Basin has filed notice for a supplemental environmental impact statement for the second line.

The environmental clearance is required for both projects because the cooperative will use federal financing under the USDA Rural Utilities Service.

http://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/basin-wants-power-line-inside-killdeer-mountains-battlefield-study-area/article_5a8bb31c-10f5-11e3-b3f9-0019bb2963f4.html

Posted at 12:01 PM ET, 07/15/2013

Civil War battlefields get NPS grants

By Linda Wheeler

The Gambrill Mill Trail wends through the Monocacy battlefield where Union and Confederate soldiers skirmished July 9, 1864. (Katherine Frey - The Washington Post)

The National Park Service’sAmerican Battlefield Protection Program has announced grants that will support projects at Civil War battlefields in Maryland, Virginia, Idaho, North Dakota, West Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama.

In Maryland, the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation will received $41,000 to help raise public awareness about the Monocacy battlefield, and theMonocacy National Battlefield will received $25,000 to research and update the battlefield’s National Historic Landmark documentation to fully encompass the field of battle, including lands not presently owned or managed by the Park Service.

The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has been awarded $29,690 to organize and present five regional battlefield workshops that will provide training and guidance on how to organize a battlefield friends group.

The Idaho State Historical Society will receive $55,567 to find and record the boundaries of the 1863 Battle of Bear River and amend the National Historic Landmark nomination.

North Dakota State University is receiving two grants. One is for $26,473 for a project to identify the boundaries of military actions related to the U.S.-Dakota War in 1863 and 1864 . The other is for $62,761 to identify battlefield resources and boundaries for the July, 1864 Battle of Killdeer Mountain.

The West Virginia Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Alliance is slated to receive $46,000 to develop community consensus and a preservation plan for the future of the Greenbrier/Camp Bartow site, a part of the 1861 Battle of Greenbrier River.

In South Carolina, the River Alliance will receive $39,400 to create an archaeological and operations model for the February, 1865 Battle of Congaree Creek.

South Carolina will receive two grants for projects in that state. The town of Ridgeland has been awarded $66,515 to educate the public and address threats to the Battle of Honey Hill. The University of South Carolina will receive $42,790 to hold a workshop titled “Preserving Fields of Conflict: Preserving Battlefields,” to share best practices in battlefield preservation, specifically focusing on unprotected and unidentified battle sites across the Southeast.

The University of North Alabama is slated to receive $31,998 for a project to submit a revaluated 1973 National Register of Historic Places nomination for the September, 1864 Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle and create a database of historical census and cartographic documents.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/house-divided/post/civil-war-battlefields-get-nps-grants/2013/07/15/59909882-ed65-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_blog.html

National Park Service Press Release: National Park Service Awards Battlefield Preservation Grants

National Park Service Press Release

For Immediate Release: July 12, 2013 Contact(s):   Mike Litterst, 202-513-0354 Kristen McMasters, 202-354-2037 National Park Service Awards Battlefield Preservation Grants WASHINGTON – More than $1.1 million in National Park Service grants have been awarded to help preserve and protect America’s significant battlefield lands. Funds from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) will support 24projects at 38 battlefields in 15 states.  “These grants help safeguard and preserve American battlefield lands,” said Jonathan B. Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service. “It is important to protect these lands as symbols of individual sacrifice and national heritage for present and future generations.”  This year’s grants provide funding for projects at endangered battlefields from King Philip’s War, Second Seminole War, Pequot Wars, Indian Wars, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War and World War II.  Awards were given to projects in 15 states or territories entailing archeology, mapping, cultural resource survey work, documentation, planning, education and interpretation.  Funded projects include:  an archeological survey covering part of the War of 1812 Battle of Baltimore in Maryland; a strategic landscape plan for the American Revolution Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania; boundary delineation at the Bear River battlefield in Idaho; GIS mapping and military terrain analysis at multiple U.S.-Dakota War battle sites in North Dakota; a cave survey and inventory project at the World War II Battle of Peleliu in Palau; re-evaluated National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Civil War Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle in Alabama; and a preservation plan and community support-building for the Civil War Battle of Greenbrier River in West Virginia. Priority was given to those groups submitting applications for nationally significant battlefields. The majority of awards were given to battlefields listed as Priority I or II sites in the National Park Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation’s Civil War Battlefields and the Report to Congress on the Historic Preservation of Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Sites in the United States. Federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions are eligible for the battlefield grants, which are awarded annually. Since 1996 more than $14 million has been awarded by the American Battlefield Protection Program to help preserve significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil. More information is available online athttp://www.nps.gov/history/hps/abpp. Brief descriptions of funded grant projects follow. Fiscal Year 2013 Grants Ball State University (Indiana)                                                                                                 $61,577 This project will develop and produce a comprehensive preservation planning document for the battlefields that encompass the Battle of the Wabash (1791) and the Battle of Fort Recovery (1794) in Ohio, two of the largest engagements between the United States Army and Native American forces. The focus will be on a detailed preservation plan for future community development and public education. Ball State University (Indiana)                                                                                                 $69,955 This project will conduct systematic archeological investigations of the northwest boundaries of the Battle of the Wabash (1791) and outlying agricultural land.  This battle and the Battle of Fort Recovery (1794) in Ohio, represent two of the largest engagements between the United States Army and Native American forces. The findings will be a part of an ongoing educational process at Fort Recovery State Museum and will be disseminated to the public via media and web site updates, presentations, open houses and other events. Baltimore Heritage, Inc. (Maryland)                                                                                       $66,000 This project will conduct an archeological survey documenting resources in the area of Patterson Park, associated with Hampstead Hill and the Battle of Baltimore, which was fought during the War of 1812. The U.S. defended this site against the British in September 1814, preventing the capture of Baltimore. A public archeology outreach program will be conducted to engage local residents and visitors in the area’s War of 1812 history. City of Fort Madison (Iowa)                                                                                                    $51,000 The goal of this preservation project is to create a land protection plan for the property and to identify best methods for interpretation. The battle, begun in July 1813, was the largest War of 1812 battle in Iowa.  The city plans a number of public meetings to discuss the project.  In addition, landowners will be contacted and citizens will be notified of public events and copies of the preservation plan will be available. College of Charleston (South Carolina)                                                                                    $27,349 This project will locate 15 United States naval vessels and an unidentified number of merchant ships scuttled in the Upper Patuxent River, Maryland, during the War of 1812. In August 1814, the U.S. deliberately sunk the ships to avoid capture and slow the British advance on Washington, D.C. The project will use cutting-edge satellite and laser imagery known as lidar along with sediment/strategic analysis to confirm the theory that changes in river course and sedimentation have effectively hidden the other wrecks.  This will allow for better preservation and interpretation of this battlefield. County of Chester (Pennsylvania)                                                                                            $57,210 Local government has ambitious plans to focus on four strategic landscapes that are related to British General William Howe’s flank march around General George Washington at the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777.    Expected elements of this project will be an inventory of the nine-mile route used by Howe’s troops, specific preservation strategies and suggestions for public access.  The project will provide guidance to local authorities for municipal implementation in protecting the battlefield. County of Cumberland (New Jersey)                                                                                       $49,500 This project will produce an archeological and interpretive study for the 1781 Battle of Dallas’ Landing, where Continental troops routed a group of Tories on the Maurice River.  The landscape remains largely untouched since the battle, and the county is seeking a more comprehensive understanding of the battle through geophysical investigations and historical and archeological research. Delaware County Planning Department (Pennsylvania)                                                           $26,415 The DCPD will create strategic preservation plans for two Brandywine Battlefield strategic landscapes, the Rearguard Defense and Concord Meetinghouse Staging Area. At the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777, British General William Howe defeated General George Washington but was delayed in his march to Philadelphia.  This delay was influential in the British defeat at Saratoga the following month.  The project will result in better documentation, an archeological research analysis, and more focused interpretation for the public. Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina                                                                                 $40,000 This project will accurately identify and delineate the boundary of the Cane Creek Battlefield site.  The battle between Patriots and Loyalists, fought in September 1780, caused the Patriots to retreat into Tennessee, only to emerge weeks later to win a rematch at Kings Mountain.  The victory at Kings Mountain prevented Lord Cornwallis from invading North Carolina and proved to be a turning point in the American Revolution.  A resource inventory, along with brochures and a workshop, will be produced to better inform and educate the public. Frederick County Landmarks Foundation, Inc. (Maryland)                                                    $41,100 This project will focus on engaging the public and other stakeholders to raise awareness about Monocacy Battlefield for the purpose of educating the local community about the battlefield resources and threats.  The group will focus on the single task of evaluating the battlefield’s full historical extent.  Funds will support developing and implementing a communications strategy; fostering consensus building; developing partners or other advocacy groups; and developing brochures and other media to assist in understanding the entire battlefield landscape. Friends of Indian King Tavern (New Jersey)                                                                           $3,500 This project will produce a brochure interpreting the Delaware River shore in present-day Gloucester and Camden counties as a war zone from September 1777 to June 1778.  The area was considered a critical point in controlling the river approaches to nearby Philadelphia during the American Revolution.  The brochure will describe and interpret historic sites and routes in the area. Idaho State Historical Society                                                                                                  $55,567 This project focuses on a landscape whose historic features have been largely ignored. The United States defeated the Indian forces, including Shoshone, at this Franklin County landscape in January 1863. The Society will find and record the boundaries of the Battle of Bear River, map and survey the battlefield, and amend the National Historic Landmark nomination. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (Connecticut)                                                                  $80,000 This project will focus on site identification and documentation within the remaining two miles of the British withdrawal route following the Battle of Mistick Fort in May 1637. Thought to have been a rout of the Pequots by a combined British and Native American force, this battlefield survey will provide information on the nature of the combat, weaponry and tactics used during the battle. This is part of the effort to get eligible Pequot War sites in the National Register of Historic Places. Monocacy National Battlefield (Maryland)                                                                             $25,000 This project will focus on examining the battlefield’s existing National Historic Landmark (NHL) Boundary. This new study will more accurately reflect the historic battlefield and connect the two separate NHL boundaries that currently exist. The purpose is to research and update Monocacy National Battlefield’s NHL documentation in order to fully encompass the field of battle, including lands not presently owned or managed by the National Park Service. North Dakota State University                                                                                                 $26,473 This project will identify the boundaries of military actions related to the U.S.-Dakota War in 1863 and 1864.  A GIS map locating all landscape defining features, as well as a military terrain analysis, will be conducted for the fort and trail system to raise awareness of the importance and preservation needs of these battlefield sites. North Dakota State University                                                                                                 $62,761 This project will identify specific battlefield resources and boundaries for the July 1864 Battle of Killdeer Mountain, which pitted Brigadier General Alfred Sully’s expedition against the Sioux during the U.S.-Dakota Wars. Through military terrain analysis, research design, and interviews, the university will work with landowners and Tribes to begin a National Register of Historic Places nomination. Peleliu War Historical Society, Inc. (Alaska)                                                                           $79,500 This project will focus on the portions of Peleliu Island in Palau where high concentrations of unexplored World War II cave installations exist. The battle was fought between the United States and Japan between September and November, 1944.  It is considered the best preserved battlefield in the Pacific. The project will complete the inventory of World War II cave locations at Peleliu. Raymond W. Harvey American Legion Post 703 (New York)                                                  $47,700 This project will perform primary source research and conduct an archeological survey for the Battle of Fort Anne.  This battle, fought in July 1777, was part of the Saratoga Campaign in the American Revolution.  The Americans, already retreating from a loss at Fort Ticonderoga a few days earlier, were again defeated by British forces.  The project will expand the public’s knowledge of the conflict, provide information for permanent preservation of the site, and support future interpretive and educational efforts. Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike Alliance Inc. (West Virginia)                                                $46,000 The goal of this project is to develop community consensus and a preservation plan for the future of the Greenbrier River/Camp Bartow site. Part of the Battle of Greenbrier River in 1861, this site protected Confederate forces in the upper Shenandoah Valley and saw them defend the camp from Union forces. The preservation partner will seek community support for this plan, and will address the future of the Camp Bartow Historic District. The River Alliance (South Carolina)                                                                                        $39,400 This project will create an archeological and operations model for the Battle of Congaree Creek, fought near Columbia in February 1865. General William T. Sherman defeated the Confederates at Congaree Creek and advanced to Columbia. Digital mapping will be created showing the sequence of the battle, and will be the basis of planned public presentations. Town of Ridgeland (South Carolina)                                                                                       $66,515 The Battle of Honey Hill was a failed Union army expedition under Maj. Gen. John P. Hatch that attempted to cut off the Charleston and Savannah Railroad in support of Gen. Sherman's projected arrival in Savannah.  It was considered one of the last outright victories won by Confederate forces.  This project will educate the public and address threats to the battlefield landscape by producing a GIS map series, various public workshops and materials, and a preservation plan. University of North Alabama                                                                                                   $31,998 This project will submit a re-evaluated National Register of Historic Places nomination and create a database of historical census and cartographic documents. The Battle of Sulphur Creek Trestle, in September 1864, saw the Confederates destroy the Union fort, and was the first involvement of the United States Colored Troops in Alabama. An update to the original 1973 nomination will focus on the historic battlefield landscape, and a web-forum will contain interactive maps for the public. University of South Carolina                                                                                                   $42,790 The University of South Carolina will hold a workshop titled “Preserving Fields of Conflict: Preserving Battlefields.”  Partners and preservationists will gather to engage in training and share best practices in battlefield preservation, specifically focusing on unprotected and unidentified battle sites across the Southeast.  A website providing an education portal for teachers and students will be developed after the workshop to include findings, papers, and training guides. Virginia Department of Historic Resources                                                                              $29,690 The VDHR will organize and present five regional battlefield workshops to provide training and guidance on how to organize a regional or local battlefield friends group. These forums will produce a toolkit, training manual, and reports for production and distribution to participants to post online and use in potential future workshops. Total                                     $1,127,000 NPS About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov. http://www.nps.gov/news/release.htm?id=1504