An LNG protest sign from FERC's December 2009 field trip in Washington County.
If LNG opponents were hoping for a new angle in their fight against Oregon LNG, this isn’t it.
A report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) clears the company of any serious wrongdoing in how it dealt with landowners along the route of its proposed pipeline in Northwest Oregon.
LNG Protesters at a rally outside Portland City Hall. Photo by Dennis Newman.
At the final round of FERC LNG Hearings in Oregon, we heard again from landowners frustrated with a system they see as secretive, intimidating, and stacked against them.
We also heard from officials with Oregon LNG and their contractors who were at times apologetic, but mostly defended how they’ve conducted themselves.
It’s hard to know where to begin.
At the first FERC public hearing about Oregon LNG, property owners unloaded themselves of a long list of complaints about the company, the federal government and how LNG issues are decided.
An LNG protest sign from FERC's December 2009 field trip in Washington County.
FERC is following through on promises to investigate landowner complaints against Oregon LNG.
The agency has scheduled three public meetings in Oregon this month to give landowners a chance to speak out, and the company a chance to defend itself.
Powerbuoy photo from Ocean Power Technologies
Staff for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will be in Reedsport next month for a couple of meetings on wave energy.
FERC is looking at an application by Ocean Power Technologies to build a 1.5 megawatt wave farm off the coast near Reedsport. This could be the first commercial wave energy project on the West Coast.
These are scoping meetings, which means the information FERC gathers will be used to determine what issues have to be studied in the environmental review process.
The fight over the Bradwood Landing LNG project enters a new phase as all sides get ready for arguments before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
No court date has been set yet. But an important deadline just passed as some of the the groups suing to stop Bradwood filed legal briefs with the court. The documents give us some new insights into why they want the appeals court to just say “no” to Bradwood Landing.
FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff.
One of the key players in Oregon’s energy future was in Portland this morning.
FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff spoke to the Green Professionals Conference at the DoubleTree hotel near Lloyd Center.
For the most part, he avoided talking about controversial issues or giving us a sense of what kind of changes he hopes to create in his relatively new role as FERC Chairman.
It wasn’t until the question and answer session that someone brought up the issue of LNG.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has put out a special request for more information about the complaints being lodged against Oregon LNG.
As we reported last week, FERC will hold a series of town meetings in Northwest Oregon to hear those complaints. But before those meetings are scheduled, FERC Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge Bobbie McCartney is asking the public to submit new comments via e-mail. The notice says FERC is looking for, “pertinent information regarding Oregon Pipeline’s conduct with landowners during the environmental review process, to provide a summary of such information, including locations, names, dates, nature of the interaction, or other relevant information.”
One thing’s for sure, if landowners along the route of the proposed Oregon LNG pipeline in were trying to get FERC’s attention, it worked.
Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced it will schedule a series of town meetings in Northwest Oregon to hear from landowners who are unhappy with the behavior of Oregon LNG employees and contractors during a recent field trip.
With any project this big and this controversial, there are bound to be complaints. But FERC spokesman Sarah McKinley says it’s “pretty unusual” for the agency to take this kind of action.
The day after the FERC vote, Jordan Cove LNG Vice President Bob Braddock seems pleased and optimistic. “It’s pretty much what we hoped for and expected,” he says.
Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 3 -1 to approve the Jordan Cove LNG terminal at Coos Bay, and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. The vote drew immediate opposition from Governor Kulongoski and several environmental groups. They will ask FERC for a rehearing and without one will appeal the case.
But none of that appears to have shaken Braddock’s confidence. Here are some highlights from our conversation this morning.
