Posts Tagged ‘ federal energy regulatory commission ’

FERC Chair: Why I Voted Against Jordan Cove LNG

December 17, 2009
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NOTE: I have a phone call and two e-mail requests into Jordan Cove for their reaction to today’s news. When they respond, I will add that to today’s coverage.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff cast the only vote against the Jordan Cove LNG project and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. Appointed to the Commission in 2006, he was named Chairman by President Obama earlier this year.

Wellinghoff also voted against the Bradwood Landing LNG project on the Columbia River near Astoria. He says the two projects suffer from similar problems.

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BREAKING: FERC Approves Jordan Cove LNG, Enviros Will Fight It

December 17, 2009
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This morning, the feds said “yes” to another LNG project in Oregon.

Voting 3-1, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the Jordan Cove LNG project at Coos Bay, and the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. Combined, the projects will move about a billion cubic feet of natural gas a day from the import terminal in Coos Bay to a connection with the interstate pipeline system near Malin, Ore.

Soon afterwards, a coalition of environmental groups announced they would appeal the decision. In a statement, Lesley Adams of Rogue Riverkeeper says, “It is inexcusable and dangerous that our federal government gives a green light to another project to import fossil fuels without a demonstrated need. As a result, FERC is unnecessarily placing rivers, salmon, public forests, communities and private properties at risk.”

VIDEO: Farmers & Landowners Give FERC An Earful About A Second LNG Pipeline

December 3, 2009
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FERC LNG tourIf you’re looking for a “ground zero” in the battles over LNG in Oregon, the area near Gales Creek in Washington County may be it.

The people who live here face the possibility of not one – but two – natural gas pipelines crossing their farms, vineyards, forests and streams.

Staffers from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission spent two days this week touring the area and meeting with landowners. The official purpose was see the impacts of the proposed Oregon Pipeline. This is a 117-mile project that would carry imported natural gas across Clatsop, Washington, Yamhill and Marion counties, plus a small section of Clackamas County.

But it was that other pipeline, the Palomar pipeline, that also weighed on the minds of residents. In this area of the state the two pipelines don’t just come close to each other, but in some places cross paths. Landowners asked if the paths could be combined. FERC officials could only say they would look at the matter.

In the brief time I spent on the tour other issues came up, too. Among them: safety, access to their land, losing the right to develop the land in the future, harm to endangered and threatened species, and the impact on climate change. While federal and state officials consider what to do about the Oregon and Palomar pipelines, the landowners are stuck in a kind legal limbo.

See links to more information below the video.

For More Information:

Columbia Riverkeeper: One of the leaders to stop all LNG projects in Oregon.

Hey! NW Natural: A social media campaign to stop the Palomar Pipeline.

Oregon LNG: The company that wants to build the Oregon Pipeline and an LNG plant near Astoria.

Palomar Gas: Developers of the Palomar pipeline.

Bradwood Landing: The Columbia River LNG plant that would feed gas into the Palomar project.

Jordan Cove LNG Update: FERC Puts Off Making A Decision

November 12, 2009
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For whatever reason, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission won’t be making a decision about the Jordan Cove LNG project anytime soon.

The agenda for next week’s Commission meeting was released less than 30 minutes ago, about 2:30pm Pacific. Jordan Cove and the Pacific Connector Pipeline project are NOT on the agenda. The next meeting is December 17.

Just yesterday, I reported on the letter writing campaign that urged FERC to make a decision as soon as possible. Today, a FERC spokesperson told me there was nothing unusual about how long the Commission is taking to make up its mind, that any number of factors could play a role. She did note that FERC’s new chairman took over in March. But she didn’t say if that was related to to what was going on with the Jordan Cove project.

Pressure Mounts On FERC To Decide Jordan Cove LNG

November 11, 2009
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An LNG tanker at sea. Photo from www.lngoneworld.com.

An LNG tanker at sea. Photo from www.lngoneworld.com.

Updated at 5pm.

Over the past few weeks, dozens of letters have poured into the offices of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Dear FERC, they implore, please make a decision, any decision, about the Jordan Cove LNG project. And please do it ASAP. Specifically, they ask FERC to put Jordan Cove on the agenda for its next meeting, November 19.

Jordan Cove is one of four LNG projects under consideration in Oregon. The plant itself would be located on Coos Bay. But the overall project also includes a 234 mile pipeline to carry the gas across Coos, Douglas, and Jackson counties and into Klamath County near the town of Malin. There it would be connected to an interstate natural gas pipeline. This is known as the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline.

It’s safe to assume that the project, if approved, will have a big impact on Southern Oregon. That partly explains why so many people have taken the time to write FERC on the issue. Most of the letters I’ve seen are duplicates, or form letters. Others use similar language and arguments. About a third of them, by my count, ask FERC to approve the project. The rest take no stand one way or the other.

This isn’t to suggest anything sinister. Form letter campaigns are often part of the public relations battle over big environmental decisions. What makes this one a little different is the sense of urgency. It’s as if they’ve absolutely, gotta have a decision right away.

“This should be over by now,” says Bob Braddock, Project Manager for the Jordan Cove LNG plant. He says FERC typically takes about 60 to 90 days to make a decision after a final Environmental Impact Statement is issued. The final EIS for Jordan Cove/Pacific Connector was issued in early May, more than six months ago. Braddock says FERC staff hasn’t been able to explain the delay.

Many of the form letters come from landowners who’s property might be crossed by the pipeline. Braddock says it was easy to get them involved. Until the issue is settled, they’re limited in what they can do with the section of their land that lies in the pipeline’s path. Braddock says they “deserve some answers.”

“I don’t know why FERC isn’t making a decision,” says Jody McCaffree. She’s with Citizens Against LNG, a group that opposes the plant and the pipeline. McCaffree thinks landowners are being misled if they believe a FERC decision will clear things up. Even if FERC gives the project a thumbs up or thumbs down, the ruling will certainly be appealed and fought out in the courts.

She believes the delay may be caused – in her view – by too many errors in the project design and the EIS. “Instead of correcting the mistakes,” she says of Jordan Cove developers, “They go and make new ones.”

“This project has so many problems, the EIS is so flawed, it won’t stand a legal challenge.”

One example of a frustrated landowner is the Port of Coos Bay. It has an option to buy the land where the LNG plant is supposed to be built. A complicated land deal between the Port, Weyerhaeuser Co., and Jordan Cove was recently extended for a third time as the parties await a FERC decision. Without one, the Port says it’s hard to consider other opportunities to develop the land.

Martin Callery, Director of Communications for the Port, appreciates the sentiment behind the form letter campaign. “We simply want a decision,” he says. “If there’s a problem, fine, tell the developer. But let us go one way or the other.”

“The community would like to know.”

When FERC issued the final EIS it concluded that the LNG plant and pipeline could be designed in such a way to do “less than significant” damage to the environment. Governor Kulongoski and many environmental groups aren’t buying it. Kulongoski says the EIS under estimates the damage and FERC proposals to lessen the impacts are not “supported by sufficient scientific data.”

When will we know if the letter campaign is successful? The agenda for next week’s meeting could be released as soon as Thursday.

FYI: I was unable to get comment from FERC on this because today is a federal holiday.

How Trees And Owls May Stop The Jordan Cove LNG Plant Near Coos Bay

August 6, 2009
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When Interior Secretary Salazar killed the Bush logging plan for Western Oregon, he probably wasn’t thinking about liquefied natural gas.

But his decision has given environmental groups a new angle to attack a proposed LNG plant and pipeline in Southern Oregon, possibly delaying or killing the project.

In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a coalition of environmental groups says FERC needs to redo the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that gave a tentative green light to the Jordan Cove LNG Plant and Pacific Connector Pipeline.

Why? The group argues that the EIS relies heavily on the Bush logging plan, officially known as the Western Oregon Plan Revision, or WOPR. But now that WOPR is dead, tougher protections from the Clinton administration are in place. The group says FERC needs to reconsider the EIS and see if it can be changed to meet the Clinton standards. Failure to do so, it says, would violate federal environmental laws.

Clinton-era protections for the Northern Spotted Owl could change or block plans for an LNG Plant and pipeline in Southern Oregon.

Clinton-era protections for the Northern Spotted Owl could change or block plans for an LNG Plant and pipeline in Southern Oregon.

How does the change in logging plans affect the LNG plant and pipeline? For starters, the group says it means “significantly” more acreage of land in the area revert back to protected old growth forest.

And then there’s the issue of the Northern Spotted Owl. When it killed WOPR, the Obama Administration also said it could no longer support the Bush plan to protect the Spotted Owl. The coalition says that greatly increases the amount of land in the area that’s protected as Spotted Owl critical habitat, and another reason the EIS for Jordan Cove has be to reconsidered.

So far, FERC has not responded to the letter. But it appears the environmental groups may be making a case to fight FERC in court unless changes are made.

The letter was written by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of several groups, including:

  • Umpqua Watersheds
  • Oregon Citizens Against the Pipeline
  • Cascadia Wildlands Project
  • Rogue Riverkeeper
  • Citizens Against LNG
  • Oregon Wild
  • Umpqua Valley Charter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon

The proposed Jordan Cove LNG plant would be located near Coos Bay, Ore. At a cost of $500 million, it would deliver about a billion cubic feet of natural gas to the interstate pipeline system. It would do so through the Pacific Connector Pipeline, which runs more than 230 miles across Coos, Douglas, Jackson and Klamath counties.

Governor K. Slams Feds Over Jordan Cove LNG Near Coos Bay

May 30, 2009
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Using language that is blunt, but polite, Governor Kulongoski is delivering some harsh criticism to federal regulators for their environmental approval of the Jordan Cove LNG plant near Coos Bay, and the Pacific Connector natural gas pipeline.

In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Governor calls the environmental review “inadequate” and says there’s not enough evidence to support the approval.

On May 1st, FERC issued the final Environmental Impact Statement for the projects, saying the proposed LNG plant and pipeline will damage the environment, but if the proper steps are taken the damage won’t be significant.

Kulongoski argues that FERC “significantly understates” the impact of the projects. He says the steps, proposed by FERC to lessen the damage, is “not supported by sufficient scientific data and evidence or by a clear explanation that justifies approval.”

He goes on to say that FERC needs to hold off making more judgements, until U.S. Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries complete their reviews on how the projects will impact endangered species. Until that happens, Kulongoski accuses FERC of being in violation the Endangered Species Act. He also says FERC shouldn’t issue a license until the projects have earned the necessary state and local permits

Kulongoski’s objects are nearly identical to the ones the state has raised against the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG plant near Astoria. FERC issued a license for Bradwood last fall. But Oregon, Washington, the U.S. Department of Justice, and a coalition of environmental groups are fighting the license approval in federal court.

The Jordan Cove LNG plant would sit near Coos Bay, taking in liquified natural gas from overseas tankers. The gas would be shipped through the Pacific Connector pipeline which runs 234 miles across Coos, Douglas, Jackson and Klamath counties to its ending point near Malin, Ore.

While getting the environmental approval from FERC is an important first step, the projects have yet to be given a license.

Earlier coverage: Coos Bay LNG Project Gets A Green Light From Feds

Coos Bay LNG Project Gets A Green Light From Feds

May 1, 2009
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It’s not the final word by any stretch, but a major LNG plant and pipeline proposed for Southern Oregon just got an important thumbs up from federal regulators.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released the Environmental Impact Statement for the Jordan Cove LNG plant and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. The conclusion? While the plant and pipeline will harm the environment, steps can be taken to make sure the damage is “less than significant.”

The other big conclusion? The plant and pipeline are the best proposal out there to increase the supply of natural gas to Southern Oregon, Northern California and Northern Nevada.

If conservation groups were hoping FERC would block the project on environmental grounds, those hopes have been killed.

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