A U.S. Coast Guard study has found Coos Bay to be unsuitable for receiving deliveries of liquefied natural gas, though it suggests LNG backers could alleviate the agency’s concerns.

In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dated Tuesday, Capt. F.G. Myer provided a mixed review regarding Jordan Cove Energy Project’s proposed LNG import terminal. It found existing infrastructure, including fire-fighting services, navigational aids and monitoring systems, to be lacking. It also called for a limit on the size of tankers.

Myer also calls for 500-yard security zones around transiting LNG vessels or at least to shoreline, 150-yard zones for ships at berth and a permanent security zone covering the LNG terminal slip and extending 25 yards into the waterway.

Much of the report reads like a checklist of projects to accomplish before receiving assent from the Coast Guard.

“I have determined that Coos Bay is not currently suitable, but could be made suitable for the type and frequency of LNG marine traffic associated with this proposed project,” Myer wrote.

The report came as no surprise to Jordan Cove Project Manager Bob Braddock. He said the report is based upon a waterway suitability assessment prepared by Jordan Cove and submitted last September. Practically all the recommendations were prepared by the energy company, with the Coast Guard adding things where they saw fit, Braddock said.

“It is effectively the Coast Guard reviewing what we believed was necessary,” he said. “There really are no surprises.”

The one thing Braddock said he was waiting to read was the Coast Guard’s recommendation on the size of security zones needed around transiting LNG vessels. He expected the Coast Guard would require 500-yard zones around the vessel, since those were the dimensions required for the Bradwood Landing LNG project on the Columbia River.

“It finally puts numbers around certain things,” Braddock said. “It’s kind of nice to say, ‘These are the numbers (for Coos Bay).’”

Russ Berg, assistant chief of the inspection division for Coast Guard sector Portland, said the security zone should not be confused with an exclusion zone. Other shipping vessels will be allowed to move through the security zone as long as they contact the Coast Guard.

“We are just requiring permission to be in that zone,” he said.

The only time marine traffic would be excluded from the channel would be during the LNG tanker’s transit across the bar, which Berg estimated at 10 minutes.

“We are not intending to shut down Coos Bay for transit of LNG tankers,” he said. “Delays would be minimal and in no way considered a hardship, I don’t think.”

Jody McCaffree said the need to apply for permission to enter security zones would impact tourists unaware of requirements.

“They are not going to let you in there at the drop of a hat,” she said. “It’s still going to impact people.”

She also found fault with the report, saying it did not consider the impact of the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport and how flights will go over shipping channel, possibly as an LNG tanker goes by.

“There are issues they are not raising,” she said. “I don’t feel this report even covers half them.”

The report sets a limit on the size of tankers entering Coos Bay. Only ships with the dimensions of a 148,000-cubic-meter class vessel will be permitted. Such a vessel normally has a length of 950 feet, a beam of 150 feet and a loaded draft of 40 feet.

And for at least the first six months of operation, LNG tankers would need to make bar transits during daylight hours.

The report leaves open the possibility of larger vessels making calls to port, though Jordan Cove would need to complete a site-specific analysis for larger tankers and get Coast Guard approval.

Braddock said most of the LNG tankers in service today are 135,000 cubic meters, with a handful at 160,000. He is aware of one vessel that recently went into service that is 217,000 cubic meters, but he expects that the ships that call on Coos Bay would be between 135,000 and 148,000 cubic meters.

“The 148 is what we were targeting for,” Braddock said.

The other requirements included in the report call for additional navigation aids, such as extra buoys in the shipping channel and a system that monitors real-time water depths and river currents.

Jordan Cove also would be required to supply three tractor tugs with Class 1 firefighting equipment to escort all tankers to its dock.

Braddock said the tugs were always part of Jordan Cove’s plans. The only addition provided by the Coast Guard was a requirement to have them on standby while a tanker is at berth.

The infrastructure upgrades all will be provided by Jordan Cove, Braddock said.

“Everything in there is on our ticket,” he said.

Martin Callery, Oregon International Port of Coos Bay Director of Communications and Freight Mobility, confirmed this. He also noted some of the infrastructure improvements would benefit all mariners.

“Some aspects will improve safety of all users, including barge tows, and the port will have no expenses related to that,” he said.