U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Public
Hearings on Proposed Destin Dome 56 Unit Development and Production Plan
and Right-of-Way Pipeline Application

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) prepared a draft EIS on Chevron U.S.A. Inc.’s proposed natural gas development and production project on their Destin Dome 56 (DD56) Unit. The DD56 Unit is located on the Outer Continental Shelf approximately 26 miles from the Florida coastline near Pensacola. In November 1996, Chevron submitted a Development and Production Plan describing how they intend to produce, develop, and transport natural gas from the DD56 Unit. The MMS based the EIS analyses on estimates of the kinds and amounts of activity onshore and offshore that could result from constructing structures, drilling wells, transporting personnel and equipment offshore, and constructing pipeline facilities to bring the natural gas product to shore.

You may obtain single copies of the draft EIS from the MMS, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, Attention: Public Information Office (MS-5034), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Room 114, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, or by calling 1-800-200-GULF.

You may review copies of the draft EIS in the following libraries:

Auburn University at Montgomery Library, 7300 University Drive, Montgomery, Alabama
Gulf Shores Public Library, Municipal Complex, Route 3, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Marine Environmental Science Consortium, Dauphin Island Sea Lab Library Dauphin Island, Alabama
Mobile Public Library, 701 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama
Montgomery Public Library, 445 South Lawrence Street, Montgomery, Alabama
Thomas B. Norton Public Library, 221 West 19th Avenue, Gulf Shores, Alabama
University of Alabama Libraries, 809 University Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
University of South Alabama, 307 University Boulevard, Mobile, Alabama
Florida A& M University, Coleman Memorial Library, Martin Luther King Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida
Florida Northwest Regional Library, Headquarters Bay County Public Library, 25 West Government Street,
Panama City, Florida
Florida State University, Strozier Library, Call Street and Copeland Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida
Fort Walton Beach Public Library, 105 Miracle Strip Parkway, SW, Fort Walton Beach
Florida Leon County Public Library, 200 West Park Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida
University of Florida Library, University Avenue, Gainesville, Florida
University of Florida, Holland Law Center Library, S.W. 25th Street and 2nd Avenue, Gainesville, Florida
University of West Florida, 1100 University Parkway, Pensacola, Florida
West Florida Regional Library, 200 West Gregory Street, Pensacola, Florida
New Orleans Public Library, 219 Loyola Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana
Plaquemines Parish Library, 35572 Highway 11, Buras, Louisiana
St. Bernard Parish Library, 1125 East St. Bernard Highway, Chalmette, Louisiana
Eudora Welty Library, Reference Section, 300 North State, Jackson, Mississippi
Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Gunter Library, 703 East Beach Drive, Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Hancock County Library System, 312 Highway 90, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Harrison County Library, 14th and 21st Avenues, Gulfport, Mississippi
Jackson George Regional Library System, 3214 Pascagoula Street, Pascagoula, Mississippi

Public Hearings on Proposed Destin Dome 56 Unit Development and Production Plan
and Right-of-Way Pipeline Application

MMS will hold three public hearings to receive comments on the proposed Development and Production Plan (DPP) and Right-of-Way Pipeline Application (ROW). The hearings will provide the MMS with information that will help in the evaluation of the potential effects of the DPP and ROW.

Hearings will be held in:

FLORIDA

PENSACOLA on Thursday, September 23, 1999; 3-6 p.m. and 7-10 p.m.
New World Landing
600 South Palafox Street
Pensacola, Florida

PANAMA CITY on Tuesday, September 28, 1999; 6-10 p.m. Marriott’s Bay Point Resort
4200 Marriott Drive
Panama City, Florida

ALABAMA

MOBILE on Wednesday, September 29, 1999; 6- 10 p.m.
Ramada Plaza Hotel
600 South Beltline Hwy
Mobile, Alabama

If you wish to testify at a hearing, you may register beginning 1 hour prior to the meeting. Speakers will be limited to 5 minutes. Each hearing will recess when all speakers have had an opportunity to testify. If there are no additional speakers, we will adjourn the hearing immediately after the recess. Written statements submitted at a hearing will be considered part of the hearing record. If you are unable to attend the hearing, you may submit written statements until October 19, 1999. Send written statements to the Regional Director (MS-5410), Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394.

MMS is the Federal Agency that manages the Nation’s oil and gas and other mineral resources on the OCS and collects, accounts for, and last year disbursed about $6 billion in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.

-MMS-GOM-

MMS's Website Address: www.mms.gov
24 Hour Fax-on-Demand Service: 202-219-1703