BUREAU:     National Park Service

MEMBER:    Representative Dennis Rehberg; Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester

ISSUE:           Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark in Montana under immediate threat from recent developments    

PARK OR PROGRAM: Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (LECL)

 

Key points:    Construction of the Highwood Generating Station (HGS) east of Great Falls, Montana is a federal undertaking that threatens the integrity of the Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark (NHL) and adversely impacts the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail (NHT). Construction of HGS has begun prior to completion of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Section 106 process.

 

Background:  The NHL was designated in 1966 to commemorate Lewis and Clark’s arduous travel around the five falls of the Missouri River in the summer of 1805. The NHL is among the few sections of the Lewis and Clark NHT that can be identified and mapped using William Clark’s original survey notes and is one of very few surviving portions of the 3,700-mile-long trail that appear largely as they did two centuries ago. The NHL was designated based upon the national significance of the event and the high integrity of the resource – the largely unimpaired landscape, free of modern human developments and intrusive activities.

 

The Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Inc. (SME) broke ground on October 15, 2008 on a 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant, called the Highwood Generating Station (HGS) east of Great Falls, MT. The HGS site is located on and adjacent to the NHL. Consultation pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) was initiated by federal agencies involved in the proposed HGS undertaking, but was never concluded. The National Park Service (NPS) is very concerned that construction has begun in direct violation of the NHPA and fears that the NHL will be unduly compromised if construction is allowed to continue.

 

Historical Timeline:

▪    SME applied for a loan guarantee to construct the HGS from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in 2004.

▪    The RUS prepared an environmental impact statement (EIS) jointly with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and issued a Final EIS in February 2007. RUS determined that the HGS would have a potential adverse effect on a portion of the NHL, requiring further consultation to resolve. A draft (Emphasis added) Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on the NHL was included in the Final EIS.

▪    The RUS issued a ROD in May 2007, concluding its compliance with NEPA, but not with NHPA.

▪    At ACHP’s request, NPS prepared a rare 213 report in June 2007 that evaluated the impact of the proposed HGS on the NHL. The 213 report concluded that, in such an open landscape, adverse impacts to the NHL from construction of HGS at the site cannot be avoided, minimized, or mitigated sufficiently to maintain the integrity of the NHL.

▪    The RUS denied funding for the HGS project in February 2008 citing concerns about project delays, financial feasibility, and pending litigation. Following this decision, RUS discontinued its Section 106 consultation process for the HGS.

▪    The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a Nationwide permit under Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1889 (33 USC 403) to SME on April 28, 2008 for the withdrawl of water from the Missouri River and installation of transmission lines over the Missouri River for the HGS project. A requirement to complete the Section 106 process prior to the commencement of construction is included as a condition of the permit.

▪    SME is not revealing their funding sources for the HGS project. Currently the only federal action known for the HGS project is the issuance of the Nationwide permit by the USACE.

▪    The ACHP sent a letter to USACE dated October 20, 2008, stating that they have become aware that construction has been initiated on the HGS even though ACHP has no record from USACE documenting compliance with Section 106. The ACHP has urged USACE to take steps to ensure that compliance with Sections 106 and 110(f) of the NHPA is not compromised by further work on the HGS.

 

Current Status: The proposed HGS would constitute a broad and wide-scale impact on the surrounding landscape. In such an open landscape, the HGS cannot avoid, minimize, or mitigate adverse impacts sufficiently to maintain the integrity of the NHL. Such major disruptions of the landscape would adversely affect the site’s continued eligibility for national historic landmark status by diminishing and destroying its integrity. This would be an irreplaceable loss to the national heritage of our country.

 

 

Prepared by:

Dan Wiley, Chief of Resources Stewardship, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail,

601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102, telephone 402-661-1830; or at dan_wiley@nps.gov.  Please contact Dan or Steve Adams, Superintendent, telephone 402-661-1806; or at e-mail steve_adams@nps.gov. Date: October 21, 2008.