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Citizen group to review dangers, impact of liquid natural gas plan
By Andrew Sirocchi, Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 14, 2004 | 1 comment(s)
A Coos County watchdog group will be sponsoring independent speakers to discuss the potential dangers of liquid natural gas and to address a recent proposal for an import facility on the North Spit.
Coos County Citizens for Representative Government, created nearly two years ago to by a diverse group of residents who wanted to bird dog county government, has turned its focus on a proposed $150 million LNG import terminal being considered for Jordan Cove.
Member Richard Knablin said the group will begin hosting a series of public forums in November and hopes to attract experts to discuss how other communities have addressed LNG proposals.
"The history here has been that jobs at any price prevails and all these plans, from Nucor to (Daishowa Paper Products), they never involve citizen involvement," Knablin said. "All they do is go to the same people - the South Coast Development Council, Friends of New and Sustainable Industry - and here they are making decisions for everyone. We want to represent independent citizens."
Knablin said the group is just beginning its research of LNG terminals but is concerned about their potential as terrorist targets as well as how they may impact fishermen and what their environmental impacts may be on the bay water.
"There's lots of questions here and I don't think we have time to waste," he said.
CCCRG already has uploaded LNG links and information on its Web site at www.cccrg.com.
"Right now we are gathering information and at this point, we're making it available to the public as soon as we get it," he said.
Bob Braddock, project manager for the recently-incorporated Jordan Cove LLC, expected safety issues and concern to arise from the public.
"LNG facilities are not without controversy," he told the Coos Bay City Council recently, reiterating statements already made public to the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering more than 40 proposals for either expanded or new LNG import terminals and oppositions groups have sprouted in many of those communities. Braddock said LNG's 40-year safety record in the United States is impeccable and far exceeds that of other energy industries, like crude oil.
"There has not been a significant accident ... an accident that has resulted in death, in the United States or Japan," Braddock said.
LNG's worst disaster in the United States occurred in 1944, when a storage tank in Cleveland, Ohio, ruptured due to imprecision in the metallurgy. Some 6,300 cubic meters were released into the city's sewer system. In the end, one square mile was charred, 79 homes destroyed, 225 people injured and 128 people were killed.
Braddock said the 1944 disaster could not recur in the United States due to technology that has advanced and made the industry safer than ever.
There have, though, been disasters outside the United States. As recently as January, an explosion at an LNG facility in Algeria killed 27 people and injured another 72. The fire raged for eight hours before being brought under control.
It was the worst disaster at an LNG site since 1973, when 40 people died in an explosion in Staten Island, New York, while they were welding an out-of-service LNG storage tank.
LNG supporters say the industry's safety record continues to outpace other energy industries. Natural gas is converted to a liquid form by freezing it to negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit, increasing its density and reducing the volume it occupies by 600 times. In its liquefied form, natural gas is neither flammable nor explosive.
Since a first load of natural gas was shipped in 1964, 33,000 more trips have followed. Vessels have traveled more than 60 million miles without a death or harm to the environment, Braddock said.
Braddock said Coos Bay is an ideal location to import natural gas because gas can be transferred to the Interstate 5 corridor through Coos County's pipeline and it can be used to serve an undersupplied market in southwestern Oregon. If the facility is built, it would employ about 50 people and attract about two vessel calls per month, but supporters say that LNG's long-term benefit to economic development will be its attractive quality to other industries.
"We anticipate it will create a dynamic that will make Coos County much more attractive to energy intensive industries than it has ever been," Braddock said.
Despite the early announcements, LNG is four years into Coos County's future, at best. Braddock said the permitting phase of the project likely will take 18 to 24 months. Construction would then take another two years.
There have been recent developments in the proposal's progress. Braddock said he expects to close negotiations for a 90-acre parcel on the North Spit this week. Braddock has not named who he is negotiating with although Weyerhaeuser and Roseburg Forest Products are the two largest landholders on that area of the North Spit.
In addition, Braddock said Jordan Cove has supplied Coos County with a contract for transportation fees to add natural gas to the county's pipeline. The terms of the contract have not been made public and the proposal remains under negotiation.
Area politicians so far have expressed enthusiasm and support for the project.
Coos Bay Councilor Jon Eck welcomed LNG proponents to the area.
"I have yet to see a down side to this," he said.
Councilor Jeff McKeown echoed those comments.
"So far, I have not seen anything but positives," he said.
On a recent swing to Coos County, Rep. Peter DeFazio, also expressed support for a Coos Bay-based LNG, saying the proposal sounded appropriate for the Bay Area and for companies wanting to serve the natural gas needs of southwestern Oregon.
"Safety concerns are overblown," DeFazio said, adding that the double-hulled tanks that hold liquefied natural gas have been much improved to enhance safety concerns. "These are not the old days. There's some very strict standards."
Jordan Cove Energy Project has proposed using a first-of-a-kind, double-containment storage tank for the North Spit. The tanks have been used in Japan but do not currently exist in the United States. The tanks, made of 9 percent nickel alloy, are surrounded by three feet of insulating perlite. That is then surrounded entirely by three feet of concrete, limiting the possibility of natural gas leaking from the storage units.
DeFazio said the country's energy crisis will require it to look beyond oil and importing natural gas in liquid form, as well as enhancing solar power technology and hydrogen fuel cells, will be a part of the long-term solution.
"We're going to have to start to import LNG and where do you bring it in?" DeFazio asked. "To me, it sounds like a good fit, when the gas line gets done."
---
On the Net:
Coos County Citizens for Representative Government: http://www.cccrg.com
Jordan Cove Energy Project: http://jordancoveenergy.com
Coos County Citizens for Representative Government, created nearly two years ago to by a diverse group of residents who wanted to bird dog county government, has turned its focus on a proposed $150 million LNG import terminal being considered for Jordan Cove.
Member Richard Knablin said the group will begin hosting a series of public forums in November and hopes to attract experts to discuss how other communities have addressed LNG proposals.
"The history here has been that jobs at any price prevails and all these plans, from Nucor to (Daishowa Paper Products), they never involve citizen involvement," Knablin said. "All they do is go to the same people - the South Coast Development Council, Friends of New and Sustainable Industry - and here they are making decisions for everyone. We want to represent independent citizens."
Knablin said the group is just beginning its research of LNG terminals but is concerned about their potential as terrorist targets as well as how they may impact fishermen and what their environmental impacts may be on the bay water.
"There's lots of questions here and I don't think we have time to waste," he said.
CCCRG already has uploaded LNG links and information on its Web site at www.cccrg.com.
"Right now we are gathering information and at this point, we're making it available to the public as soon as we get it," he said.
Bob Braddock, project manager for the recently-incorporated Jordan Cove LLC, expected safety issues and concern to arise from the public.
"LNG facilities are not without controversy," he told the Coos Bay City Council recently, reiterating statements already made public to the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is considering more than 40 proposals for either expanded or new LNG import terminals and oppositions groups have sprouted in many of those communities. Braddock said LNG's 40-year safety record in the United States is impeccable and far exceeds that of other energy industries, like crude oil.
"There has not been a significant accident ... an accident that has resulted in death, in the United States or Japan," Braddock said.
LNG's worst disaster in the United States occurred in 1944, when a storage tank in Cleveland, Ohio, ruptured due to imprecision in the metallurgy. Some 6,300 cubic meters were released into the city's sewer system. In the end, one square mile was charred, 79 homes destroyed, 225 people injured and 128 people were killed.
Braddock said the 1944 disaster could not recur in the United States due to technology that has advanced and made the industry safer than ever.
There have, though, been disasters outside the United States. As recently as January, an explosion at an LNG facility in Algeria killed 27 people and injured another 72. The fire raged for eight hours before being brought under control.
It was the worst disaster at an LNG site since 1973, when 40 people died in an explosion in Staten Island, New York, while they were welding an out-of-service LNG storage tank.
LNG supporters say the industry's safety record continues to outpace other energy industries. Natural gas is converted to a liquid form by freezing it to negative 260 degrees Fahrenheit, increasing its density and reducing the volume it occupies by 600 times. In its liquefied form, natural gas is neither flammable nor explosive.
Since a first load of natural gas was shipped in 1964, 33,000 more trips have followed. Vessels have traveled more than 60 million miles without a death or harm to the environment, Braddock said.
Braddock said Coos Bay is an ideal location to import natural gas because gas can be transferred to the Interstate 5 corridor through Coos County's pipeline and it can be used to serve an undersupplied market in southwestern Oregon. If the facility is built, it would employ about 50 people and attract about two vessel calls per month, but supporters say that LNG's long-term benefit to economic development will be its attractive quality to other industries.
"We anticipate it will create a dynamic that will make Coos County much more attractive to energy intensive industries than it has ever been," Braddock said.
Despite the early announcements, LNG is four years into Coos County's future, at best. Braddock said the permitting phase of the project likely will take 18 to 24 months. Construction would then take another two years.
There have been recent developments in the proposal's progress. Braddock said he expects to close negotiations for a 90-acre parcel on the North Spit this week. Braddock has not named who he is negotiating with although Weyerhaeuser and Roseburg Forest Products are the two largest landholders on that area of the North Spit.
In addition, Braddock said Jordan Cove has supplied Coos County with a contract for transportation fees to add natural gas to the county's pipeline. The terms of the contract have not been made public and the proposal remains under negotiation.
Area politicians so far have expressed enthusiasm and support for the project.
Coos Bay Councilor Jon Eck welcomed LNG proponents to the area.
"I have yet to see a down side to this," he said.
Councilor Jeff McKeown echoed those comments.
"So far, I have not seen anything but positives," he said.
On a recent swing to Coos County, Rep. Peter DeFazio, also expressed support for a Coos Bay-based LNG, saying the proposal sounded appropriate for the Bay Area and for companies wanting to serve the natural gas needs of southwestern Oregon.
"Safety concerns are overblown," DeFazio said, adding that the double-hulled tanks that hold liquefied natural gas have been much improved to enhance safety concerns. "These are not the old days. There's some very strict standards."
Jordan Cove Energy Project has proposed using a first-of-a-kind, double-containment storage tank for the North Spit. The tanks have been used in Japan but do not currently exist in the United States. The tanks, made of 9 percent nickel alloy, are surrounded by three feet of insulating perlite. That is then surrounded entirely by three feet of concrete, limiting the possibility of natural gas leaking from the storage units.
DeFazio said the country's energy crisis will require it to look beyond oil and importing natural gas in liquid form, as well as enhancing solar power technology and hydrogen fuel cells, will be a part of the long-term solution.
"We're going to have to start to import LNG and where do you bring it in?" DeFazio asked. "To me, it sounds like a good fit, when the gas line gets done."
---
On the Net:
Coos County Citizens for Representative Government: http://www.cccrg.com
Jordan Cove Energy Project: http://jordancoveenergy.com
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