The Station is in Oconee County, South Carolina, less than a mile from the Pickens County line and within 25 miles of the boundaries of the states of North Carolina and Georgia (Fig. II-1). Here, at the southern reach of Appalachia, the Piedmont hills join the southern Blue Ridge Mountains to form the Piedmont Crescent of South Carolina. The terrain is mountainous, with elevations differing by almost 2000 feet; the rainfall is abundant (73 to 85 inches per year), and some of the numerous streams are characterized by deep gorges. The Station and its associated lakes and hydroelectric stations, cover several hundred square miles. Fig. II-2 shows the principal cities within a radius of 100 miles from Keowee Dam. Several small towns within 20 miles, are shown in Fig. II-3.

Transportation is good throughout the entire region.

Highways S.C. 45

and S.C. 183 (Fig. 1-2 and Fig. II-1) are about 1/2 mile from the site; U.S. 76, U.S. 123, and U.S. 178 are readily accessible. I-85 and I-26 cross the region, and a new scenic highway, S.C. 11, is being built along the foothills of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. The main line of the Southern Railway from Atlanta to Washington passes through the area, and additional rail service is supplied by several smaller lines.

The downstream Hartwell Reservoir (Figs. II-1, II-3) of the Corps of Engineers has a close relationship to the Keowee-Toxaway Project because of the minimum daily flow and waste discharge restrictions it imposes on Lake Keowee management. Thus (a) the minimum average daily flow through the Keowee Dam must be equivalent to 152 cubic feet per second, which is somewhat more than the minimum flow rate into Hartwell Reservoir recorded before the formation of Lake Keowee, and (b) the discharge of wastes into the Keowee Dam tailrace is restricted because Hartwell Reservoir water is used by some of the surrounding cities (see Section V.D.2).

The Station is located within an exclusion area of 1 mile radius (Fig. 1-2) which is posted and fenced. This area is owned in full except for a small rural church lot, a highway right-of-way, and approximately 9.8 acres included in the Hartwell Project. Lakes Keowee and Jocassee (Fig. II-3), associated with the Station, were created on land owned by the applicant. These lakes cover a total area of about 26,000 acres 18,500 acres and 300 miles of shore for Keowee, 7,500 acres and 75 miles of shore for Jocassee. In addition to the acreage just listed, the applicant owns surrounding land to a total of 157,000 acres, most of which lies north by northeast and north by northwest of Keowee Dam.

The principal population centers within a radius of 100 miles are shown in Fig. II-2. The largest city within 100 miles is Knoxville, Tennessee, 97 miles northwest, with a population (1970) of about 175,000. (Knoxville, though nearer to Oconee than Charlotte, North Carolina, is by comparison totally unrelated to the Station's service area and its impacts.) The nearest urban center is Anderson, South Carolina, 21 miles southeast, with a population (1970) of about 28,000. The accumulative populations

within 5 and 20 miles radius from the site shown in Fig. II-4 are for the year 1965 with projections for the year 2010. From the projected figures it can be shown that the population is expected to increase by more than 50% by the turn of the century, and the greatest percent increase will occur in the near vicinity of Keowee Dam, largely because of residential developments surrounding the lakes (Lake Keowee in particular). The population at and near the project site has changed little in many years, so the picture before site construction was essentially as shown in Fig. II-5. Note especially (i) the farm residence 1.2 miles east of the central Oconee Nuclear site, (ii) Keowee School (356 pupils) 3.8 miles west, (iii) Oconee Memorial Hospital (127 beds) at Seneca miles south-southwest, (iv) Courtney Mills (250 employees) at Newry 5 miles south, and American Enka at Central 8 miles southeast.

In the exclusion area itself (Fig. II-2), the Visitors Center, the lakeside recreational areas, and the Bachelor Quarters for employees constitute activity centers that stem directly from the project. Old Pickens Church (not used for regular services), a highway right-of-way, and 9.8 acres of the Hartwell Project are areas that are not owned by the applicant but come under the regulations of the exclusion area. Rights have been obtained to restrict the use of all the public areas.

2. Land Use

The Keowee-Toxaway Project is located in the western portion of the applicant's service area (See Fig. I-1). Since World War II, there has been a change in this region away from a cotton economy to one of general manufacturing and industry. The result has been an increase in diverse manufacturing operations and a reorientation in the farming industry, with cotton being replaced by fruit, poultry, and dairy production. Viewed as a whole, the region is one consisting of small farms whose owners are also industrial workers, interspersed with industrial-sized farms that provide food for market. Some of the industries within 8 miles or so of Keowee Dam are shown in Fig. II-5.