Final Environmental Assessment for Rti International Scale-Up of High-Temperature Syngas Cleanup and Carbon Capture and Sequestration Technologies, Po

DOE prepared this EA to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of its Proposed Action to provide cost-shared funding to RTI International (RTI) for its proposed project to demonstrate the pre-commercial scale-up of RTI's high-temperature syngas cleanup and carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Approximately $168.8 million of DOE's total $171.8 million funding for the proposed project would be provided from funds authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115). RTI's proposed project would advance the commercial deployment of cost-effective, environmentally sound technology options that reduce the constraints associated with using domestic coal energy resources and may ultimately assist in reducing greenhouse gas intensity. RTI's proposed project would be located at Tampa Electric Company's existing Polk Power Station in Polk County, Florida. The proposed project would treat a slipstream, equivalent to up to 66 megawatts of electricity generation, of coal-derived syngas from the existing Polk Unit 1 integrated gasification combined-cycle power plant to remove 99.9 percent of the sulfur, reduce trace contaminant (arsenic, selenium, and mercury) concentrations, and convert the removed sulfur compounds to commercial-grade elemental sulfur. Also, up to 300,000 tons per year, or 90 percent, of the carbon dioxide (CO2) in the cleaned syngas would be captured and sequestered in a deep geologic formation and not released to the atmosphere. This EA evaluates the potential impacts of the proposed project in 13 environmental resource areas. Based on initial impact screening evaluations, DOE determined that no or negligible impacts would occur in six of these resource areas. Additional impact evaluations for air quality, geology and soils, water resources, socioeconomics, transportation, waste management, and human health and safety identify negligible or minimal impacts due to the proposed project's construction and operation. In this EA, potential cumulative impacts of the proposed project with other past, present, or future actions are also evaluated, and no adverse cumulative impacts are identified.