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Draft environmental assessment for Cavalier Space Force Station cooling pond available for public comment

USACE OMAHA
Published April 19, 2022
Updated: April 19, 2022

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District announces that a draft environmental assessment for the proposed construction and operation of a cooling pond for the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Attack Characterization System at Cavalier Space Force Station in North Dakota is available for public comment.

The proposed action is to construct a 23.5 million gallon pond and associated water pipeline, pump station, and water quality maintenance system to provide the critical infrastructure for required redundancy for the PARCS, and to ensure supplemental water is available should the current cooling system fail. Additionally, an associated supply line would transfer cool, potable water to the powerplant and a return line to transfer the heated water back to the cooling pond would also be constructed, as well as a pump station and a water quality maintenance system. The construction work would involve site earthwork, site development, a cooling distribution system, and an electrical and storm sewer system.

The purpose of this project is to develop an alternative water source to cool the PARCS – which is a water-cooled system. Presently, two cooling towers are the only mechanism utilized to cool the PARCS; an additional cooling mechanism is necessary for redundancy in this national security mission essential system.  The need for this action is to provide the critical infrastructure for required redundancy for the PARCS to ensure supplemental water is available should the current cooling system fail.

This draft EA assesses the overall environmental effects of proposed actions in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] §§ 4321, et seq.), Council on Environmental Quality regulations (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] §§ 1500, et seq.), and the Environmental Impact Analysis Process (32 CFR Part 989).

The 10th Space Warning Squadron, a host unit at CSFS, monitors and tracks potential missile launches against North America with the PARCS.  The PARCS also provides critical missile warning and space surveillance data to North American Aerospace Defense Command, United States Strategic Command and regional combatant commanders. They also monitor and track earth-orbiting objects to enable space situational awareness and space control.

The public is encouraged to provide comments on the draft EA which is available for review and download at: https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll7/id/20456. Comments can be mailed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, CENWO-PMA-C ATTN: Amanda Dague, 1616 Capitol Avenue; Omaha, NE 68102-4901. Comments can also be emailed to: cenwo-planning@usace.army.mil. Comments must be postmarked or received within 30 days of this notice. 


Release no. 22-014