Environmental Assessment for Pyrotek, Inc. Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative Project, Sanborn, NY (Doe/Ea-1720)

DOE prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action-providing financial assistance to Pyrotek under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding for Pyrotek to construct an industrial building; installation of electrically heated furnaces and other production equipment such as conveyors, collectors, screens, and cooling towers required to accomplish the proposed expansion of the graphitization process on the Metaullics Systems' Sanborn facility in Sanborn, New York. The expansion would result in an increase in anode material production capacity to meet higher projected demands, decrease processing costs to provide lower priced material to customers, and meet the objectives of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, by creating and preserving jobs. The project would create approximately 50 new jobs and retain approximately 55 existing facility jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from Pyrotek's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality, noise, geology and soils, surface water, vegetation and wildlife, solid and hazardous waste, and transportation and traffic. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.