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July 27, 2011 (El Centro) -- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will hold two public meetings August 10 as part of an environmental review of the proposed Ocotillo Sol solar energy project in Imperial County.
San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) has applied to the BLM for a right-of-way on public lands to construct the Ocotillo Sol project, a solar photovoltaic power plant facility on approximately 115 acres about nine miles southwest of El Centro and 82 miles east of San Diego.
Both meetings will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 10 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. at the Imperial County Building (County Executive Office), Conference Rooms C and D, 940 W. Main St., El Centro, CA 92443.
The meetings are part of a public scoping period of 30 days, which ends Aug. 15, 2011. During the scoping period, BLM solicits public comment on issues, concerns, potential impacts, alternatives, and mitigation measures that should be considered in the analysis of the proposed action. BLM will use the public scoping comments received to prepare draft environmental documents that will be available for public review later this year.
If approved by the BLM, the project would be a peak 20-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic project. It would be built in a single phase and would connect to the existing SDG&E Imperial Valley Substation to its immediate north via a buried 12.47-kilovolt cable. Construction is planned to begin in late spring 2012.
The BLM will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. The EIS will analyze the site-specific impacts on air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, water resources, geological resources and hazards, hazardous materials handling, land use, noise, visual resources, and transmission system engineering and transmission line safety.
Further details on the proposed solar energy project can be found at: http://www.ca.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd.html. You may also contact Noel Ludwig, BLM Project Manager, at ocotillosol@blm.gov or (951) 697-5368.
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