centage of them, relative to whether or not they wanted this plant. After these discussions they made their announcement that they would build this plant here. We don't want them here if it is going to pollute this river, but at the same time, we don't want anybody else to make the assumption that the Water Pollution Control Commission, the Department of Conservation, State of Minnesota, will not protect the rights of the people of the States of Wisconsin and Minnesota. This is a technical question which these two bodies, the regular quasijudicial bodies, the Minnesota Procedure Act will certainly govern. The president of the Northern States Power Co. is an engineer, and it gives us great pleasure to introduce Mr. Earl Ewald.

Senator NELSON. Mr. Ewald, we are pleased to have you take the time to come and give your report.

STATEMENT OF EARL EWALD, PRESIDENT OF NORTHERN STATES POWER CO.

Mr. EWALD. My name, as you heard, is Earl Ewald. I am president of Northern States Power Co., a Minnesota corporation. In the following statement I shall frequently refer to that company as "NSP." I have previously supplied this subcommittee with written data relating to the capacity of the electric generating plant proposed to be built at Oak Park Heights, Minn., on the St. Croix River. The dimensions of the plant, the amount of coal to be burned, and the plant's use of water from the St. Croix River are detailed in such written material.

(There follows data relating to NSP Co. plan.)

NORTHERN STATES POWER Co.-DATA RELATING TO STEAM-ELECTRIC GENERATING PLANT AT OAK PARK HEIGHTS, MINN.

Location

On the west shore of Lake St. Croix in the village of Oak Park Heights, near Bayport, Washington County, Minn. Site includes part of the NE of section 3, T. 29 N., R. 20 W., all of Government lots 2 and 3, section 2, T. 29 N., R. 20 W., and part of Government lot 5, section 34, T. 30 N., R. 20 W. Total area of site approximately 180 acres.

Capacity

Unit No. 1 nameplate rating, 550,000 kilowatts.

Expected maximum capability unit No. 1, 610,000 kilowatts.

Provisions will be made for a second unit of somewhat larger size.

Construction to begin in 1965. Unit to be placed in service in 1968. Employment and payroll

Construction employment will average more than 150 men during each of the 3 years required to build the plant. Employment at the site will reach more than 400 during periods of peak construction activity. Total construction payroll during the 3-year period will be about $7 million.

The operating staff for the plant will total about 60 men. The initial operating payroll for the plant will be approximately $500,000 annually.

Design and fuel

The plant will be a conventional steam-electric generating facility of the most advanced engineering design. It will compare with the most efficient steamelectric generating units in the Nation. The unit will operate at 3,500 pounds per square inch steam pressure and 1,000° F. The boiler will be fired with coal.

Physical aspects

The initial plant building will be 200 by 250 feet in plan and 200 feet high. In addition to the turbogenerator, boiler and associated equipment, the structure will house offices, maintenance shops, laboratories, and storage areas.

The building will be given architectural treatment. The plant area will be landscaped.

The stack for the plant will be 785 feet high above grade.

Facilities for unloading barges will be located adjacent to the shore of the

lake.

Coal delivery

About 60,000 tons of coal will be delivered per week initially over a period of about 30 weeks. The coal storage pile will be approximately 2,400 feet long, 500 feet wide, and 35 feet high above grade. Plant consumption of coal is 240 tons per hour at rated capacity.

Cooling water

Water for condensing steam will be drawn into the plant from the lake at the rate of about 660 cubic feet per second, and the same amount of water will be returned to the lake. The cooling water will not be contaminated in any way. The intake will withdraw water from the lower, cooler portion of the lake. At the point of discharge at the surface of the lake, the total temperature rise of the condensing water will be about 17° in the summer and about 30° in the winter.

Handling of waste products

An electrostatic precipitator at the plant will remove 99 percent of the solids in flue gases exhausted from the stack. The height of the stack will assure rapid dispersion of gases high into the atmosphere.

Mr. EWALD. I will not now repeat these, but I should like to devote such time as may be permitted to me to a discussion of the following

matters:

First, NSP's electric load doubles approximately every 10 years. As a result of this growth we will have to add generating capacity to the system at the rate of about 200,000 kilowatts a year in each of the next 10 years. Such growth requires continuous planning for needed future facilities. We like to keep our preliminary plans 20 years ahead of construction.

In accordance with such planning, we purchased the plant site in Oak Park Heights in 1942, 22 years ago. Subsequently, as our plans matured, we made additional purchases of land to enlarge the site. Such purchases were made in 1954, 1957, 1958, and 1964.

This site was selected in 1942 for future development for four specific reasons:

(A) It is close to the electric load in the eastern and northern parts of the metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, including Washington County. Being close, it can serve this load with greatest economy and, of greater importance, with the greatest reliability, (B) The site is on a navigable river, where its fuel can be delivered with greatest economy and where the necessary cooling water is available.

(C) The site is in an industrial area of the St. Croix Valley, having the needed railway connections, as well as a river which has been dredged and improved for commercial navigation.

(D) We were informed that the community would welcome construction of a generating plant at this location. This welcome has been repeated from time to time over the years, as it has been repeated today.

In the years since 1942 our system planning has taken cognizance of this site. Now it has become desirable to develop it.

Second, NSP is well aware of the need for preserving wild areas of land and water for public recreation and is în full sympathy with such planning. To this end NSP has cooperated with the Department of the Interior in its study of the wild portion of the St. Croix River north of Taylor Falls, north of a point about 30 miles upstream from the site of the proposed generating plant.

In this area NSP has for many years owned most of both banks of the St. Croix River for a distance of about 70 miles above Taylors Falls. The company has refused to sell or lease these lands or to exploit them in any way. The public has had free access to such lands for hunting, fishing, canoeing, and camping. Several years before Secretary Udall made public his wild river concept, NSP initiated studies with a view to preserving these wild lands in perpetuity for recreational uses. We have consulted with appropriate agencies in the States of Minnesota and Wisconsin in the course of these investigations and have received advice from them. At the moment these studies are in abeyance, since we have agreed with a team from the Department of the Interior that we would maintain the status quo pending resolution of the recommendations made by that team to Secretary Udall.

Third, the St. Croix River, in the vicinity of the site of the proposed generating plant, is by no means a free-flowing or wild river. The river had been a regulated stream for more than 60 years. In the late 19th century, dams were used to regulate the river to facilitate the movement of logs. With the advent of the 20th century, various dams were constructed on the main stem and tributaries to permit the generation of electric power, and since the 1930's the river below Stillwater has been maintained at an elevation about 10 feet above low water by a dam constructed for navigation purposes. The concept of a "wild river," as that term is used in the study now being carried on by the Joint Interior-Agriculture Wild Rivers Study Team, relates only to that portion of the St. Croix River from near Gordon, Wis., downstream along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border to Taylors Falls. It does not relate to the St. Croix River below St. Croix Falls. I mention these matters because, in certain newspaper and magazine articles relating to our proposed plant on the St. Croix River, emphasis has been given to the concept of a free-flowing and wild river.

Within a distance of about 4 miles of the site for the proposed plant, there are three substantial towns having a total population of about 16,000 and, in addition, smaller communities and suburban developments, all bordering on the river. Although the river below Stillwater is used for recreational purposes, such as swimming, fishing, and boating, it is, in fact, also commercialized. The recreational uses by the public, however, are restricted because of limited public access. Much of the shoreline is privately owned and posted against use by the public.

A glance at the photograph before you, if you gentlemen have seen it before, will confirm that the proposed plant site is located in an industrial area. North of the site lies Stillwater, in which are located several industries. A barge terminal and the Stillwater sewage plant border the plant site to the north. Just downstream is the village of Bayport, in which is located a sewage plant discharging to the river, and immediately to the south of the site is the Andersen plant, one of the world's largest manufacturers of windows.

Senator NELSON. Does Bayport have a sewage treatment plant? Judge MCDONOUGH. They do have a sewage plant.

Mr. WILSON. The outlet is at the southeast corner of the building, directly at the entrance of the St. Croix. It serves both the city of Bayport and the State prison. It is in process of enlargement right

now.

Senator NELSON. Thank you.

Mr. EWALD. Adjoining the site to the west is the Minnesota State Prison. Running along the entire westerly boundary of the site are railroad tracks. On the site itself NSP has a large propane storage tank and an electric substation.

Fourth, in designing and locating this plant, Northern States Power has been well aware of the public interest. The plant will produce electricity at lower cost than will any existing plant in this area. By virtue of its location, the plant will increase the reliability of service in this part of the metropolitan area. These facts are of vital concern to all of the people in the metropolitan area and western Wisconsin who are our customers. The plant design incorporates provisions to meet the highest standards which can reasonably be applied in the areas of water and air pollution, architecture, and landscaping. In January, Northern States Power will submit detailed evidence on these points to the Minnesota Water Pollution Control Commission and to the Minnesota Department of Conservation at public hearings. Both of these agencies, I am informed, proceed in Cooperation with their Wisconsin counterparts under long-standing agreements, which, I believe, are adequate to protect the interstate interests. Each of these agencies has a staff of consultants fully competent to weigh the questions before it.

I hope that this committee, in its deliberations, will not be influenced by unsupported claims or fears as to the effect of the construction and operation of the plant. Complete technical data relating to the plant will be presented in the form of testimony in a public hearing before those State commissions and departments which are authorized by law to conduct such hearing and to make appropriate rulings thereon.

Northern States Power will be pleased to submit to this subcommittee such portions of the testimony taken at such hearing as your committee may request.

Fifth, Northern States Power has always cooperated with and supported the Minnesota Water Pollution Control Commission in its program to control pollution of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. In 1963, the commission adopted pollution standards for the Mississippi River which, among other things, regulate the discharge of circulating water into the Mississippi River from Northern States Power's Riverside and High Bridge plants. In this connection, it should be