A Combined Electric/Magnetic Field Instrument for MHK Environmental Monitoring Award Number: DE-EE0007825 CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.16 Water Power Technology Office Date: 12/6/2016 Location(s): MA Office(s): Golden Field Office
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
December 12, 2016
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A Combined Electric/Magnetic Field Instrument for MHK Environmental Monitoring
Award Number: DE-EE0007825
CX(s) Applied: A9, B3.16
Water Power Technologies Office
Date: 12/6/2016
Location(s): MA
Office(s): Golden Field Office
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is proposing to provide funding to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (Woods Hole) to develop and field test a combined electric/magnetic field instrument (EMF) for use in and around marine hydrokinetic sites.
The proposed project would be divided into three Budget Periods, with a Go/No Go decision point between each Budget Period. This NEPA review is for Budget Period 1 (BP1) only. In BP1 Woods Hole would conduct five tasks. Tasks 1-4 would include design, fabrication and laboratory testing of the EMF instruments. These tasks would occur at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Blake Building, an office and laboratory building on the Woods Hole Campus. Tasks 1-4 are the types of activities which are routinely conducted at the Blake Building. Task 5 would involve field testing at the Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) Marine Science Laboratory (MSL), specifically in Sequim Bay, WA. Prior to testing the device PNNL would need to lay a new subsea cable on the sea floor and use divers to secure the cable to the sea floor. This type of work is regularly conducted by PNNL and PNNL divers.