Chukchi Sea Air Permit

OCS/PSD Permits

Comment period on the proposed permit extended to October 20, 2009. Send your comments to:

Shell Chukchi OCS Air Permit
EPA Region 10
1200 6th Ave, Ste. 900
Mail Stop: AWT-107
Seattle, Washington 98101
Fax: 206-553-0110
R10ocsairpermits@epa.gov

Have questions about the proposed permit? Contact:

Pat Nair, Permit Writer
EPA Region 10
Phone: 208-378-5754
Fax: 208-378-5744
Email: nair.pat@epa.gov

On this page:

Air Quality Permit Proposed for Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. to Operate the Frontier Discoverer Drillship in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska
- 2009 Public Hearings
Proposed Permit Documents

Air Quality Permit Proposed for Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. to Operate the Frontier Discoverer Drillship in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska

EPA is currently reviewing public comment on the proposed Clean Air Act permit for Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. (Shell) to operate the Frontier Discoverer and its associated support vessels to explore for oil and gas within it’s current leases on the Chukchi Sea. The lease areas to be explored are all beyond 25 miles from Alaska’s seaward boundary west of Wainwright (162 W longitude) and north of Point Lay (71 N latitude) (see map of current Shell leases in the Chukchi Sea Lease Sale Area 193 (PDF) (1 pp., 2MB). The proposed permit will allow Shell to operate the Frontier Discoverer drillship and its fleet for a multi-year exploratory oil and gas drilling program within its current lease blocks from lease sale 193 on the Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf (OCS), beyond 25 miles from Alaska’s seaward boundary. Because the drillship operations are a “major” source, the permit must ensure that the operations meet the requirements of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) program. The proposed permit is based on non-guideline ISC3-PRIME modeling system used to predict air pollutant concentrations.

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Materials presented at Public Information meetings in Barrow, AK on September 23, 2009 and Anchorage, AK on September 25, 2009

Power Point Presentation (PDF) (18pp., 476KB)
Poster - Air Permit Presentation (PDF) (4pp., 1,000KB )
Poster - Shell Chukchi Sea lease area 193 map (PDF) (1pp., 2.3MB)
Poster - PSD-OCS agency jurisdictions (PDF) (1pp., 13KB)
Poster - Shell PSD-OCS air permit process (PDF) (1pp., 64KB)

Barrow, AK Public Hearing
Barrow public hearing sign-in sheet (PDF) (2pp., 1.8MB)
Barrow public hearing testimony (PDF) (46pp., 84KB)

Anchorage, AK Public Hearing
Anchorage public hearing sign-in sheet (PDF) (2pp., 1.8MB)
Anchorage public hearing testimony (PDF) (41pp., 78KB)

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Proposed Permit Documents:

2009 Public Comments:

Commenter Submittal Date Comments

Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. September 18, 2009 Shell comments on Proposed Discoverer/Chukchi OCS/PSD Permit (PDF) (67 pp. 756K)

Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. September 18, 2009 Wainwright Near-Term Ambient Air Quality Monitoring 3rd Quarter Data Report May-July 2009 (PDF) (82 pp. 3.2MB)

Cora Akpik September 22, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 51K)

Marjorie Angashuk September 22, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 22K)

Linda Leary September 25, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 35K)

EarthJustice September 28, 2009 Request for extension of October 5 deadline for written comments (PDF) (2pp., 24KB)

Dave Harbour September 28, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (12 pp. 116K)

Doreen Lampe September 28, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 33K)

Native Village of Point Hope September 28, 2009 Request for extension of deadline for written comments (PDF) (1 page 17K)

Representative Charisse Millett September 28, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (2 pp. 34K)

Resource Development Council for Alaska September 28, 2009 RDC Comment Letter (PDF) (2 pp. 143K)

Compiled Email Comments September 25, 2009 to October 1, 2009 Comment Letters (PDF) (27pp. 208K)

Chris Birch, NANA Development Corp. October 1, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (6pp. 162K)

John Goll, Minerals Management Service October 2, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (4 pp. 143K)

Steven Borrell, Alaska Miners Association October 5, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 35K)

Roger Jenkins October 5, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 37K)

James Winegarner, Alaska Brooks Range Petroleum Corp October 5, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 48K)

Shell Gulf of Mexico October 8, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (61 pp. 318K)

Thomas B. Wood October 8, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 31KB)

Compiled email comments Oct 2-Oct 9, 2009 October 2, 2009 to October 9, 2009 Comment Letters (PDF) (13 pp. 307K)

Mark C. Nelson, ASRC Energy Services Inc. October 13, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 113KB)

Sharon Anderson, Anderson Business Consulting LLC October 13, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 68KB)

Chukchi compiled email comments October 14, 2009 Comment Letters (PDF) (11pp., 343KB)

Chris Bell, PCE Pacific Inc. October 14, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 11.5KB)

Brian G. Tomlinson October 16, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (4pp., 243KB)

Wayne Stevens, ASCC October 16, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 364KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Combined Comments October 20, 2009 Comment Letters (PDF) (58pp., 592KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Cover Letter October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (4pp., 252KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix A October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (5pp., 162KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix I October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (12pp., 3.9MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix II October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (19pp., 6MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part A October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (30pp., 1.4MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part B October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (39pp., 4MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part C October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (30pp., 1,000KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III CARB Diesel Reduction Plan October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (94pp., 356KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III EPA Analysis of Cost Effectiveness of Reducing PM October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (37pp., 1.7MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III Port of LA Technical Report October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (228pp., 5.8MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III Stationary Diesel Engines in the NE October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (167pp., 1.6MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV part A October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (24pp., 819KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV part B October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (36pp., 1.4MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV PM2.5 October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (18pp., 144KB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV EPA Tech Response for PM NAAQS Rule October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (48pp., 1MB)

AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix V October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (25pp., 1MB)

Shell Gulf of Mexico, Supplemental Comments October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (28pp., 803KB)

Shell Gulf of Mexico, Additional Supplemental comments October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 81KB)

Shell Gulf of Mexico, response to Earthjustice October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (9pp., 104KB)

Native Village of Point Hope October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 13KB)

James Gilbert, Udelhoven Oilfield Services Inc. October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 60KB)

Earthjustice Erik Grafe October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (22pp., 91KB)

Conoco Philips Alaska October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (74pp., 4.5MB)

Center for Biological Diversity Brendan Cummings October 20, 2009 Comment Letter (PDF) (7pp., 56KB)

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Proposed Shell OCS/PSD Air Permit (comment period open from August 20 to October 20, 2009):

Documents:

Proposed Air Permit Information Sheet (PDF) (3 pp. 186K)

Proposed Permit (PDF) (50 pp. 250K)

Statement of Basis for Proposed Permit (PDF) (86 pp. 716K)

Statement of Basis Appendix A (PDF) (21 pp. 314K)

Statement of Basis Appendix B (PDF) (20 pp. 219K)

Statement of Basis Appendix B: Figures and Tables (PDF) (31 pp. 973K)

Printable Public Notice (PDF) (1pp. 24K) - August 20, 2009

Printable Public Notice Extension (PDF) (1 pp. 23K) - October 2, 2009

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Permit Application Materials:

Date: Document Received:

Index File Index of Permit Application Materials (PDF) (5 pp. 40K)

Dec 11, 2008 Shell Offshore Inc. - Initial application (PDF) (80pp., 2MB)

Feb 23, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Cover letter (PDF) (18 pp. 69K)

Feb 23, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Revised Application (PDF) (107 pp. 1.4MB)

Feb 23, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Appendices A-G (PDF) (431 pp. 9.9MB) Note: This document is large and may take a long time to download with a 56K modem.

May 18, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Response to March 12 EPA Letter of Incompleteness (PDF) (86 pp. 804K)

May 29, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Updated response to March 12 EPA Letter of Incompleteness (PDF) (110 pp. 884K)

June 1, 2009 Shell Offshore Inc. - Supplemental Response - Additional Impact Analyses (PDF) (50 pp. 663K)

August 20, 2009 Additional Permit Application Materials (PDF) (525 pp. 7MB) Note: This document is large and may take a long time to download.

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EPA Responses:

Date: Document:

January 16, 2009 EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 28K)

January 16, 2009 EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachment A (PDF) (8 pp. 38K)

January 16, 2009 EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachment B (PDF) (5 pp. 28K)

March 12, 2009 EPA Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 28K)

March 12, 2009 EPA Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachments A and B (PDF) (6 pp. 33K)

July 31, 2009 EPA Completeness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 18K)

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NPDES Notices of Intent

Date: Document:

May 22, 2009 NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2321 Block #6912 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 277K)

May 22, 2009 NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2280 Block #6764 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 183K)

May 22, 2009 NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2267 Block #6714 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 272K)

May 22, 2009 NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2142 Block #7007 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 276K)

May 22, 2009 NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2111 Block #6864 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 270K)

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Contacts:

Pat Nair, air permit writer for Shell’s Chukchi application: (208) 378-5754 or nair.pat@epa.gov
Suzanne Skadowski, community involvement coordinator for Chukchi and Beaufort air permit applications: (206) 553-6689 or skadowski.suzanne@epa.gov

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Other Locations to Review Documents:
The record for the proposed permit includes the permit application and supporting information from Shell, the statement of basis for the proposed permit, documents cited in the statement of basis, the proposed permit, and supporting materials. The permit application, statement of basis, proposed permit, and permit information sheet are available for public review at the locations listed below as well as online. Please call in advance for available viewing times.

Barrow City Office, 2022 Ahkovak Street, Barrow, Alaska, 907-852-4050
Wainwright City Office, 1217 Airport Road, Wainwright, Alaska, 907-763-2815
Atqasuk City Office, 5010 Ekosik Street, Atqasuk, Alaska, 907-633-6811
Kali School Library, 1029 Ugrak Ave, Point Lay, Alaska, 907-833-2312
Point Hope City Office, 530 Natchiq Street, Point Hope, Alaska, 907-368-2537
EPA Alaska Office, Federal Building, 222 West 7^th Ave, Anchorage, Alaska, 907-271-5083

The permit record is also available at the EPA Region 10 Library, 1200 6th Ave, Seattle, Washington, 206-553-1259. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive future information about this permit or other OCS permitting in Alaska, contact Suzanne Skadowski as described above.

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Commenter	Submittal Date	Comments
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc.	September 18, 2009	Shell comments on Proposed Discoverer/Chukchi OCS/PSD Permit (PDF) (67 pp. 756K)
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc.	September 18, 2009	Wainwright Near-Term Ambient Air Quality Monitoring 3rd Quarter Data Report May-July 2009 (PDF) (82 pp. 3.2MB)
Cora Akpik	September 22, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 51K)
Marjorie Angashuk	September 22, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 22K)
Linda Leary	September 25, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 35K)
EarthJustice	September 28, 2009	Request for extension of October 5 deadline for written comments (PDF) (2pp., 24KB)
Dave Harbour	September 28, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (12 pp. 116K)
Doreen Lampe	September 28, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 33K)
Native Village of Point Hope	September 28, 2009	Request for extension of deadline for written comments (PDF) (1 page 17K)
Representative Charisse Millett	September 28, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (2 pp. 34K)
Resource Development Council for Alaska	September 28, 2009	RDC Comment Letter (PDF) (2 pp. 143K)
Compiled Email Comments	September 25, 2009 to October 1, 2009	Comment Letters (PDF) (27pp. 208K)
Chris Birch, NANA Development Corp.	October 1, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (6pp. 162K)
John Goll, Minerals Management Service	October 2, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (4 pp. 143K)
Steven Borrell, Alaska Miners Association	October 5, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 35K)
Roger Jenkins	October 5, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 37K)
James Winegarner, Alaska Brooks Range Petroleum Corp	October 5, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1 page 48K)
Shell Gulf of Mexico	October 8, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (61 pp. 318K)
Thomas B. Wood	October 8, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 31KB)
Compiled email comments Oct 2-Oct 9, 2009	October 2, 2009 to October 9, 2009	Comment Letters (PDF) (13 pp. 307K)
Mark C. Nelson, ASRC Energy Services Inc.	October 13, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 113KB)
Sharon Anderson, Anderson Business Consulting LLC	October 13, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 68KB)
Chukchi compiled email comments	October 14, 2009	Comment Letters (PDF) (11pp., 343KB)
Chris Bell, PCE Pacific Inc.	October 14, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 11.5KB)
Brian G. Tomlinson	October 16, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (4pp., 243KB)
Wayne Stevens, ASCC	October 16, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 364KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Combined Comments	October 20, 2009	Comment Letters (PDF) (58pp., 592KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Cover Letter	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (4pp., 252KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix A	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (5pp., 162KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix I	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (12pp., 3.9MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix II	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (19pp., 6MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part A	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (30pp., 1.4MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part B	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (39pp., 4MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III part C	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (30pp., 1,000KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III CARB Diesel Reduction Plan	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (94pp., 356KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III EPA Analysis of Cost Effectiveness of Reducing PM	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (37pp., 1.7MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III Port of LA Technical Report	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (228pp., 5.8MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix III Stationary Diesel Engines in the NE	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (167pp., 1.6MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV part A	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (24pp., 819KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV part B	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (36pp., 1.4MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV PM2.5	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (18pp., 144KB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix IV EPA Tech Response for PM NAAQS Rule	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (48pp., 1MB)
AEWC ICAS NSB, Appendix V	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (25pp., 1MB)
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Supplemental Comments	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (28pp., 803KB)
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Additional Supplemental comments	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 81KB)
Shell Gulf of Mexico, response to Earthjustice	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (9pp., 104KB)
Native Village of Point Hope	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (2pp., 13KB)
James Gilbert, Udelhoven Oilfield Services Inc.	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (1pp., 60KB)
Earthjustice Erik Grafe	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (22pp., 91KB)
Conoco Philips Alaska	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (74pp., 4.5MB)
Center for Biological Diversity Brendan Cummings	October 20, 2009	Comment Letter (PDF) (7pp., 56KB)

Date:	Document Received:
Index File	Index of Permit Application Materials (PDF) (5 pp. 40K)
Dec 11, 2008	Shell Offshore Inc. - Initial application (PDF) (80pp., 2MB)
Feb 23, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Cover letter (PDF) (18 pp. 69K)
Feb 23, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Revised Application (PDF) (107 pp. 1.4MB)
Feb 23, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Replacement Application - Appendices A-G (PDF) (431 pp. 9.9MB) Note: This document is large and may take a long time to download with a 56K modem.
May 18, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Response to March 12 EPA Letter of Incompleteness (PDF) (86 pp. 804K)
May 29, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Updated response to March 12 EPA Letter of Incompleteness (PDF) (110 pp. 884K)
June 1, 2009	Shell Offshore Inc. - Supplemental Response - Additional Impact Analyses (PDF) (50 pp. 663K)
August 20, 2009	Additional Permit Application Materials (PDF) (525 pp. 7MB) Note: This document is large and may take a long time to download.

Date:	Document:
January 16, 2009	EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 28K)
January 16, 2009	EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachment A (PDF) (8 pp. 38K)
January 16, 2009	EPA Application Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachment B (PDF) (5 pp. 28K)
March 12, 2009	EPA Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 28K)
March 12, 2009	EPA Incompleteness Determination letter to Shell - Attachments A and B (PDF) (6 pp. 33K)
July 31, 2009	EPA Completeness Determination letter to Shell (PDF) (1 page 18K)

Date:	Document:
May 22, 2009	NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2321 Block #6912 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 277K)
May 22, 2009	NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2280 Block #6764 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 183K)
May 22, 2009	NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2267 Block #6714 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 272K)
May 22, 2009	NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2142 Block #7007 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 276K)
May 22, 2009	NOI for Lease #OCS-Y-2111 Block #6864 [Chukchi Sea] (PDF) (10 pp. 270K)

Chukchi Sea Air Permit

OCS/PSD Permits

Comment period on the proposed permit extended to October 20, 2009. Send your comments to:

Have questions about the proposed permit? Contact:

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