Oregon LNG Terminals Fail to Get Permits

March 12, 2016: Jordan Cove LNG project DENIED!

No LNG logoThe Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has denied applications for Jordan Cove LNG and Pacific Connector Pipeline to construct and operate a major LNG export facility in Coos Bay and southwest Oregon. Crag has worked for years with client Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition and a broad group of impacted landowners and conservation groups to oppose this project. In determining whether to approve this type of project, FERC must balance the public benefits of a proposed project against the potential adverse consequences. In a monumental decision, FERC found that the “generalized allegations of need proffered by Pacific Connector do not outweigh the potential for adverse impact on landowners and communities.” And without the gas pipeline to serve the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal, “authorizing its construction would be inconsistent with the public interest.”Jordan Cove requested FERC authority to construct and operate an LNG export terminal on Coos Bay, that would have the capacity to produce about six million metric tons per year of LNG, using feed stock of about 0.9 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, for shipment to nations around the Pacific Rim. Pacific Connector requested a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the FERC authorizing the construction and operation of a pipeline between the Malin Hub in Klamath County, Oregon and the Jordan Cove terminal on Coos Bay in Coos County, Oregon. http://crag.org/tag/lng/

MARCH 10, 2016: Another Blow to Oregon LNG

20150903_110137Last week, a Hearings Officer in the City of Warrenton denied land use permits for Oregon LNG’s natural gas terminal. Crag worked together with clients Columbia Riverkeeper and Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition to demonstrate the proposal’s risks to the community and significant threat to intertidal wetland habitat critical to endangered salmon survival.The project would require 109 acres of estuary dredging and 35 acres of wetland fill on the East Skipanon Peninsula just inside the mouth of the Columbia River. Some of the area’s most important recreational fishing happens adjacent to the site at Buoy 10. In denying the permit, the Hearings Officer found that the project would unreasonably interfere with public trust rights–namely impacts on fish, fishing, fish habitat, and on-going fish recovery efforts.

Because so much shallow water and wetland habitat has been already lost in the Lower Columbia River Estuary, the remaining shallow and middle depth habitat is ecologically significant. The Hearings Officer found that Oregon LNG had not shown that its attempts to mitigate impacts to the estuary and wetlands would be adequate or successful.

Even though energy projects like this one are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, local governments have authority to determine compliance with local laws that are part of the Oregon Coastal Management Plan under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Clatsop County has already denied permits for the pipeline, and the City’s decision now adds another blow to Oregon LNG’s plans. Crag will work with Columbia Riverkeeper and Oregon Shores to defend the decision. http://crag.org/tag/lng/