In March 1991, DOE found a depression on the downstream slope of Par Pond Dam, an earth embankment dam designed as a cooling water reservoir for P- and R-Reactors at the Savannah River Site. (These reactors were no longer operating by 1991.) Because a dam failure could cause heavy flooding and potential loss of life in the downstream town of Martin, South Carolina, DOE began to lower the reservoir pool level in June 1991 to reduce hydrostatic pressure on the dam and to mitigate potential impacts. DOE consulted with the Council on Environmental Quality in September 1991 concerning alternative arrangements for NEPA compliance for emergency drawdown of Par Pond and in April 1992 issued a Special Environmental Analysis (DOE/SEA-02).