22 Sep 2017
Release of the big Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) for the Icicle Strategy will likely be postponed to January 2018.
Chelan County’s Mike Kaputa disclosed this delay in September, explaining that the two lead agencies – Chelan County and the state Department of Ecology -- want more time to review the document internally.
Postponed once before, the most recent target release date for the DPEIS was October, with the public comment period ending during the Christmas holidays. Postponing the release date to January at least will avoid the holidays. No matter when it starts, that comment period is likely to be 60 days. Environmentalists have urged the lead agencies to allow 90 days due to the sheer volume of material.
The DPEIS, which covers the Icicle Strategy, will be huge. The statement itself will be several hundred pages long and will also include appendices. The two appendices that have not yet been released include a new report on Eightmile Lake dam construction, and a new report on the Automation/Optimization project. The latter project would install equipment allowing remote control of water levels at the wilderness lakes.
The Work Group still plans to hold an official public meeting in Leavenworth for the DPEIS release. Mr. Kaputa still proposes an informal Seattle-area meeting, but resists a meeting on the west-side that would be as official as the Leavenworth meeting. Environmentalists continue to push for an official Seattle-area meeting.