6:40 p.m. update:
Environmental groups are throwing a victory party Thursday evening at Bark’s offices on SE Grand. Click here for details.
Earlier:
The coalition working to stop the Palomar natural gas pipeline is thrilled over today’s news, first reported right here on Natural Oregon.
Joint Statement from Bark, Columbia Riverkeeper and Hey! NW Natural
“Today Palomar Pipeline withdrew its FERC application to construct a 220-mile-long natural gas pipeline that would have served proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals on the Columbia River. This news comes just 2 weeks after Bark and other Palomar opponents submitted comments to FERC requesting the immediate withdrawal of the application. Bark, Columbia Riverkeepers, Oregon Sierra Club and the grassroots community group Oregon Citizens Against the Pipelines have fought tenaciously against Palomar since it filed its FERC application in 2008. Their opposition is based on the lack of need for LNG in Oregon, the impact of the associated 47-mile long clear cut through Mt. Hood National Forest, the use of eminent domain on rural Oregonians and the decimation of fisheries along the pipeline route.
Bark Community Organizer Olivia Schmidt summarized the meaning of this victory for Oregonians, “The withdrawal of this application is a victory for Oregonians and for Mt. Hood National Forest. NW Natural [backer of Palomar LLC] shouldn’t expect Oregonians to sacrifice the Wild & Scenic Fish Creek, the Clackamas River, the Pacific Crest Trail and towering Old Growth forests for more fossil fuel infrastructure. Cancellation of the Palomar Pipeline proves that engaged communities and grassroots organizing can protect what Oregonians hold dear: clean water, healthy forests, intact fisheries and defense of our public lands.”
Dan Serres, Conservation Director for Columbia Riverkeeper, highlighted the impact this would have on the possibility of Liquefied Natural Gas development on the Columbia River, “Palomar has always been the lynchpin to LNG development on the Columbia River. Without Palomar, the Oregon LNG terminal has no way to connect to its target market in California. This is not only a great victory for Oregonians, it is a crushing blow to the last remaining LNG proposal on the Columbia River.”
Sha Spady, owner of the equestrian center Big Oak Stables, a landowner on the Palomar Pipeline East of Molalla had this to say “I am very happy to hear this news. As a landowner on the pipeline route, Palomar’s withdrawal means that our stables that provide equestrian programs to underprivileged youth will be able to continue un-interrupted by pipeline construction. As a native Oregonian I am proud to know that the watersheds and old growth forests of Mt. Hood have been protected by the commitment of grassroots communities in our state.”
Martin Evans, spokesperson for the Hey NW Natural Campaign and a native Oregonian, cheered the news today “Mt. Hood National Forest is where I spent my summers as a child and my wife and I are continuing that tradition by spending every possible moment there with our daughter. Mt. Hood National Forest is a place that is iconic to our state and deserves protection from needless projects like the Palomar Pipeline. Today I am proud to be an Oregonian that stands in solidarity with my community to protect Mt. Hood.”
Statement from Ivan Maluski, Conservation Director for the Oregon Chapter Sierra Club
“The withdrawal of the permit for the Palomar gas pipeline today is a huge victory for the people of Oregon. Proposed LNG development along the Columbia River and Oregon Coast is and always has been a terrible idea. LNG development and the Palomar pipeline have posed one of the most significant threats to farms, forests and rivers in the Willamette Valley and Mt. Hood National Forest over the past decade. We are glad to see that in addition to withdrawing the western portion of the pipeline originally intended to access proposed LNG import infrastructure, Palomar and Northwest Natural Gas have also decided to withdraw the permit for the controversial eastern section of pipeline across the Mt. Hood National Forest as well. The eastern section of the proposed pipeline would have had significant impacts on old growth forest and Wild and Scenic stretches of river in the Mt. Hood National Forest. With renewed concern over the potential for large-scale earthquakes in our region in coming decades, Oregonians should continue to question proposals to build massive gas pipelines and LNG infrastructure that pose both environmental and public safety risks.”
