News Articles
about
Passamaquoddy Bay & LNG

Maine

New gas pipeline could ease capacity shortage — Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME

One of the nation’s largest natural gas pipeline companies announced on Wednesday that it will expand its system in New England, a move that could help ease a winter capacity shortage that has been linked to billions of dollars in higher electricity prices in Maine and the region.

Houston-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. said it has reached agreements with local natural gas distribution companies in southern New England to transport the equivalent of 500 million cubic feet per day on an expansion of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline called the Northeast Energy Direct Project.

Kinder Morgan said it would boost capacity through a combination of new pipelines in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as additional loops, new compressor stations and other modifications from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire. Service would begin in November of 2018, pending approval from federal energy regulators and other permits.

Kinder Morgan’s plans complement other expansion and project proposals in Maine and the region meant to increase supply and bring the high cost of natural gas here closer to national averages. That in turn could lower electric rates, because half of the region’s power is generated today with natural gas. A study by the region’s power grid operator found New England homes and businesses paid $3 billion more last winter for power than they would have if adequate gas were available.

Kinder Morgan’s announcement comes as a major policy effort by the six New England governors continues to move forward, a controversial plan to increase gas pipeline capacity by nearly 20 percent in three years. Utility customers would be asked to help pay for the projects, which could cost billions of dollars altogether, through electricity rates. Costs soon would be recovered by savings on energy bills, advocates say.

Approval in Maine is being considered this summer and fall by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

But some conservation groups, including Environment Northeast, are pushing back on pipeline expansion. They say it ignores diversified, lower-impact solutions and adds to the region’s over-reliance on gas.

“Additionally, consumer demand for cost-effective cleaner alternatives – such as energy efficiency, distributed generation and advanced heating technologies like air source heat pumps – is booming and states need to evaluate the potential for utilizing these lower risk alternatives to meet our energy needs.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

New England

The whale watch boat hit an offshore natural gas port. What’s that? (Jul 29) — The Boston Globe, Boston, MA

The line that snagged a Boston Harbor Cruises boat this week was attached to what is known as a “liquid [sic; liquefied] natural gas offloading facility,” a relatively new project built to add capacity to the region’s energy supply.

The $350 million facility has struggled in recent years with the decline in imported gas. A Globe report last year noted that it hadn’t taken any deliveries since it opened in 2008.

Boston Harbor Cruises has acknowledged that the vessel strayed into a “restricted navigation area” and promised the company would cooperate with a Coast Guard investigation.

On Northeast Gateway’s website, the company points out that the LNG port is in a location that is home to a population of massive right whales, a species whose numbers were critically decreased by hunting in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: So much for "safety and security" surrounding Northeast Gateway LNG terminal; however, the lack of use of the new terminal indicates how absolutely wacky the LNG and natural gas decision making process is. But then, following Downeast LNG's own nonsensical path has taught us that.

Whale watch lurches into overnight ordeal (Jul 29) — The Boston Globe, Boston, MA

The tour, run by Boston Harbor Cruises, bills itself as “Boston’s only three-hour whale watch.” This trip ended up taking 18 hours.

The whale watch boat returning from Stellwagen Bank on Monday afternoon strayed into a restricted navigation area, where its propeller became entangled in a cable for a natural gas pipeline, stranding 163 passengers on an 83-foot vessel overnight in a scenario that turned into a nightmare.

The cable that snagged the Cetacea was part of Excelerate Energy’s Northeast Gateway Deepwater Port, the Coast Guard said. The deepwater port is a facility where liquefied natural gas tankers can offload gas, which is then piped underwater to shore.

The ship, traveling with only one of its two propellers working, limped back to its dock next to the New England Aquarium just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, escorted by the Tybee. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Northeast

Unanswered Cove Point expansion questions to be addressed — TheBayNet.com, MD

The League of Women Voters of Calvert County will bring together experts in an informal setting to answer questions regarding Dominion Cove Point’s proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) expansion. The meeting, on Thursday, August 14 from 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM at the Calvert Library (located at 850 Costley Way, Prince Frederick, MD), is free and open to the public.

Topics will include: safety, proximity to local neighborhoods, evacuation plans, emissions, traffic and environmental concerns as well as economic benefits.

Dominion declines participation in League's meeting — TheBayNet.com, MD

A town hall meeting planned by the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Calvert County will apparently be minus one participant [Dominion] when it is held in August. The purpose of the League’s meeting at Calvert Library Prince Frederick Thursday, Aug. 14 is to discuss lingering questions regarding the Dominion Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Export project. The forum is scheduled from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Opponents have cited safety and environmental concerns. In addition to fears of a possible explosion at the plant site and its residual impact on the surrounding community, project foes have been critical of the plan due to concerns that it could increase hydraulic fracturing or fracking in the Appalachian region.

“Why is it illegal for me to walk into this courthouse with an empty propane tank from my barbecue grill and yet it is OK for Dominion to build a liquefaction train which will contain 290,000 gallons of liquid propane, right across the street from homes on Cove Point Road?” Sigler asked. “We need a minimum safety study.”

Gas industry survey shows job growth slowing (Jul 29) — StateImpact Pennsylvania, National Public Radio (NPR)

Job growth in the Marcellus Shale industry continues, but it’s slowing down.

“I think it’s pretty clear we’ve been a victim of our own success,” says MSC President Dave Spigelmyer. “Natural gas prices have softened rather dramatically.”

Community-based water monitoring in the Marcellus shale (Jul 29) — FracTracker.org

While the threat of Marcellus Shale gas development has sparked new interest in watershed monitoring across Pennsylvania, many of these new efforts are being initiated by civil society organizations operating in a political-economic climate in which scientific knowledge is increasingly being generated by non-academic and non-governmental entities. Enlisting volunteers and gathering independent resources to conduct water monitoring is one way that organizations supporting civil society research address the problem of “undone science” or, “areas of research that are left unfunded, incomplete, or generally ignored but that social movements or civil society organizations often identify as worthy of more research” (Frickel et al. 2010: 444). [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Gulf of Mexico

FERC approves Freeport LNG export project — FERC

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today authorized Freeport LNG Development, L.P. to site, construct, and operate facilities to liquefy and export domestic natural gas from its existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal located near the city of Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas.

This is the third LNG export project authorized by FERC. There are currently 10 LNG export projects that have filed formal applications pending before the Commission, and there are three LNG export projects in the prefiling process.

British Columbia

West Vancouver opposes LNG export plan — North Shore News, North Vancouver, BC

Tankers carrying liquefied natural gas should stay out of Howe Sound, according to a unanimous motion passed by West Vancouver council.

After hearing numerous environmental concerns, West Vancouver council joined with Lions Bay July 21 in calling on the federal government to ban the passage of LNG tankers in Howe Sound. The motion was a response to an LNG plant proposed for the site of a former pulp mill southwest of downtown Squamish.

"This particular location, in a confined watershed, in a very confined waterway, passing three ferry lanes, passing by several major population centres including West Vancouver, is a particularly inappropriate location," Finn said. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Quicksilver Resources Canada files for LNG export authority (Jul 29) — LNG Law Blog

Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. (Quicksilver) filed an application with the Canadian National Energy Board to export 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) (960 Bcf/year) of LNG over 25 years from the proposed Discovery LNG Project located just north of the City of Campbell River, British Columbia. Quicksilver states that the proposed project would have four liquefaction trains with a total LNG production capacity of approximately 20 mtpa. Quicksilver intends to export the LNG to Pacific Rim markets in Asia.

United States

Natural gas exports will have to wait until September (Jul 29) — Washington Examiner, Washington, DC

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee won't tackle legislation on liquefied natural gas exports before lawmakers depart for their August recess this week.

Chairwoman Mary Landrieu, D-La., and ranking member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, with their respective caucuses, weren't able to reach an agreement on the varying proposals lawmakers have filed to expedite natural gas export approvals. With the November midterm elections nearing — in which Landrieu's seat is up for grabs — the prospects of striking a deal are looking shaky. [Colored & bold emphasis added.] [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Congressional watch-dog warns fracking waste could threaten drinking water (Jul 28) — StateImpact Pennsylvania, National Public Radio (NPR)

The Government Accountability Office [GAO] says new risks from underground injections of oil and gas waste could harm drinking water supplies, and the EPA needs to step up both oversight and enforcement. The GAO released a study on Monday detailing the EPA’s role in overseeing the nation’s 172,000 wells, which either dispose of oil and gas waste, use “enhanced” oil and gas production techniques, store fossil fuels for later use, or use diesel fuel to frack for gas or oil. These wells are referred to as “class II” underground injection wells and are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Oversight of these wells vary by state, with some coming under the regulatory authority of the EPA, including the 1,865 class II wells in Pennsylvania. The GAO faults the EPA for inconsistent on-site inspections and guidance that dates back to the 1980′s. Of the more than 1800 class II wells in Pennsylvania, the GAO reports only 33 percent were inspected in 2012. Some states, including California, Colorado and North Dakota, require monthly reporting on injection pressure, volume and content of the fluid.

[T]he GAO does not have much faith in the industry’s voluntary reporting website FracFocus…. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Federal report says better oversight needed to protect drinking water from Marcellus Shale industry (Jul 29) — Pennlive.com

EPA needs to improve data collection on well oversight at a national level, particularly since shale oil and gas production has increased four- and five-fold, respectively, since 2007, said GAO.

With this boom in production, new risks have emerged, including overpressurization of geologic formations and potential contamination of underground drinking water sources, said GAO. Without better nationwide data on these risks, regulators won't have the information needed to protect drinking water, said the report.

The report states that while officials have reported "few known instances of contamination from the injection of fluids into class II wells in the last 5 years; however, EPA's class II program does not require monitoring of groundwater for contamination nor do most of the eight states we reviewed. Moreover, EPA has noted that the absence of known contamination is not necessarily proof that contamination has not occurred."

Read the entire GAO report here: GAO-14-555 Drinking Water and Fracking report [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Nova Scotia

Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (ASX:LNG) to acquire Bear Head LNG project in Canada (Jul 27) — Yahoo Finance Australia

Brisbane, Australia, July 28, 2014 - (ABN Newswire) - Liquefied Natural Gas Limited today announced that it has significantly expanded its presence in the North American Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sector by signing an agreement to acquire 100% of Bear Head LNG Corporation from a subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for US$11.0 million.

The Bear Head LNG Project is located in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada….

LNGL is in discussions with gas transportation companies and owners of gas reserves regarding the supply of natural gas from onshore and offshore Canadian natural gas supply options, and the Marcellus Shale Gas Play in North-Eastern USA, to the Bear Head LNG project site.

Webmaster's comment: The US prohibits natural gas that is exported from the US to Canada from being exported from Canada.

New England

Unprecedented New England pipeline proposal (week of Jul 25) — Living on Earth, Public Radio International

A pipeline company proposes to extend a natural gas through New England to help solve the region’s energy price spikes. The Conservation Law Foundation’s Shanna Cleveland discusses with host Steve Curwood whether the pipeline is needed, and its unorthodox financing plan.

CURWOOD: How much does the region need this pipeline to cope with its energy needs?

CLEVELAND: I’m so glad you asked that. That's the key question here is, whether or not a pipeline of this size and nature is needed. And from our perspective that's exactly the question that the New England governors should've asked and gotten a better answer to before deciding that they were going to invest customer money into a pipeline like this. From our analysis, the incremental expansions of existing natural gas pipelines, as well as the current supplies of liquified natural gas that we have on the system, would be plenty to make up the shortfalls that we've been seeing in the winter months and reduce those price spikes that folks have been concerned about.

CURWOOD: Now I understand the New England governors hired a consulting firm, Black and Veatch to study all this. What did they find and how do you think it informs this discussion?

CLEVELAND: Well, I think the most important conclusion that Black and Veatch reached was that under a low-demand scenario, that is, under a scenario where we reduce our consumption of natural gas, there is no need for new infrastructure. So you would think that after hearing that conclusion, the New England governors would've wondered: Well, how much would it cost to get to that low-demand scenario? But in fact they did not ask Black and Veatch to follow up on that at all, and instead continued to pursue the question of how much it would cost and how big a pipeline could be built.

CURWOOD: It's been suggested that one of the unspoken motivations for putting in this pipeline is to enable the prospect of exports of natural gas. What do you hear along these lines?

CLEVELAND: Well, I have heard a lot about that, and it's interesting because the supposed need that was posited in the Black and Veatch study was around 600,000 million cubic feet a day, and the proposed pipeline dwarfs that: It is about 2.2 billion cubic feet a day that they're considering building the pipeline for. So there is quite a potential for a lot of this natural gas to end up on the export market. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay

Downeast LNG submits pre-filing request with FERC (Jul 24) — LNG World News

Downeast LNG (DELNG) submitted its pre-filing request on July 23 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to develop an estimated $2 billion bi-directional LNG facility at its proposed location in Robbinston, Maine.

The reconfigured DELNG project will retain one LNG storage tank, pier, regasification equipment and natural gas pipeline as currently proposed, adding liquefaction capacity to the current design.

Downeast LNG proposes expanded project, submits request to energy regulators (Jul 23) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

The prefiling to the commission is for a facility with annual capacity of 3 million tons, which will cost an estimated $2 billion to develop. The company last month proposed a project that would have an annual capacity of 2 million tons and cost $1.3 billion to build.

Downeast LNG has been trying to develop a liquefied natural gas import terminal in Robbinston since 2005, but in June it announced it was shifting gears because of changing market conditions and proposed a bi-directional facility that would handle both the import and export of natural gas. The facility [would] be able to liquefy natural gas for export as LNG and regasify imported LNG, as the market requires, operating similarly to about 40 other LNG storage facilities in the New England region.

The company plans to submit its formal application to FERC in January 2015, Girdis said; it has six months from the prefiling to submit a full application.

“Passamaquoddy Bay is inherently inappropriate for LNG transits and terminals,” said Godfrey. He listed other objections to the proposal, including Canada’s ban on LNG transits into Passamaquoddy Bay and the defacing of a state-designated scenic area. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Nova Scotia

Agreements signed for Nova Scotia LNG plant (Jul 21) — (The Canadian Press) Metro, Halifax, NS

Nova Scotia’s energy minister says he welcomes news that Indian company H-Energy has signed memorandums of understanding with customers for half of the planned output from a proposed liquefied natural gas plant and export terminal in Guysborough County. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Melford LNG project still taking shape (Jul 21) — The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS

The developer of a proposed $3-billion LNG plant and export terminal in Melford, Guysborough County, has lined up six potential customers. But the source of the gas they want to buy remains up in the air.

Darshan Hiranandani, managing director of H-Energy, said Monday the project’s natural gas supply could come from central or western Canada, the Maritimes or the northeastern United States via various pipelines.

[T]he developer will ask the National Energy Board in October for a permit to export up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of LNG per day. Environmental approval for the project, one of two proposed LNG facilities in the works for the Strait area, will also be sought later this year.

Webmaster's comment: The United States prohibits natural gas exported to Canada from being exported from Canada to a third country.

Buzz about Encana possibly selling Panuke natural gas project resumes (Jul 19) — The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS

At a shareholders’ meeting in May, [Encana CEO Doug Suttles] reiterated that Deep Panuke, which began production in December, wasn’t for sale after the project contributed US$395 million to Encana’s US$1.1 billion in operating cash flow in the first quarter.

Northeast

State gives gas export facility go-ahead — Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD

Maryland's top elected officials gave a key approval Wednesday to developing a natural gas export facility in Southern Maryland that some fear could threaten residents' safety and the environment.

At issue Wednesday was a seemingly minor permit to allow Dominion to build a pier in the Patuxent River at Solomons so construction material could be moved in by barge to build the facility.

Opponents noted that O'Malley ordered a state safety review when another company proposed building a liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point in Baltimore, which was subsequently blocked by the state for environmental reasons.

Gulf of Mexico

FERC begins pre-filing environmental review of Louisiana LNG energy terminal — LNG Law Blog

FERC has approved Louisiana LNG Energy, LLC’s (LLE) application to initiate the pre-filing environmental review process for LLE’s proposed Mississippi River Liquefied Natural Gas export facility in Plaquemines Parish, La. on the east bank of the Mississippi River. LLE proposes to construct four liquefaction trains, each with production capacity of 74,380 Mcf per day, for a total annual capacity of 100 Bcf, or 2 million metric tons of LNG per annum. LLE also proposes to construct LNG truck loading and marine terminal facilities. LLE projects a second quarter 2018 in-service date for the terminal.

Sierra Club, others challenge US FERC's approval of Cameron LNG project (Jul 22) — Platts

Environmental groups are seeking a rehearing on the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to authorize the construction and operation of facilities needed to export 1.7 Bcf/d of liquefied natural gas from Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

The groups also requested a stay of the order to prevent the project's sponsors from moving ahead with construction.

The groups' "most fundamental disagreement with FERC" stemmed from the commission's conclusion that increased domestic gas production triggered by a rise in gas exports was outside of the scope of the environmental review of the project required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

Alaska

Alaska gas producers file for DOE LNG export license (Jul 21) — Platts

The filing to the DOE, made Friday, follows the signing of a joint venture agreement among the parties on July 2 to fund $500 million in pre front-end engineering and design work for the project, which is now expected to cost a total of $45 billion-$65 billion. The pre-FEED study, which is expected to be completed in late 2015 or early 2016, would provide an updated cost estimate, Butt said. The project would include a liquefaction plant and terminal in the Nikiski area on the Kenai Peninsula, a gas treatment plant on the North Slope, a 42-inch-diameter, 800-mile pipeline, and various compression stations and take-off points for in-state gas delivery. The partners in the project are North Slope producers BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, pipeline company TransCanada, and the state's Alaska Gasline Development Corp.

As of the middle of June, the Department of Energy had approved 36 applications for exports to free-trade countries, and seven of 33 applications for non-free-trade exports. The remaining 26 are pending. So far, of the seven approved projects, just one is under construction, Persily said. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: US Department of Energy approval is separate from FERC permitting.

British Columbia

British Columbians committed to carbon reduction — Ecolog.com, Toronto, ON

A new survey commissioned by the Pembina Institute, Clean Energy Canada and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions confirms British Columbia (B.C.) residents’ reputation as committed to carbon reduction – at least so long as it doesn’t cause them to dig too deeply into their pocketbook.

The survey, released July 2014, was conducted April 1 and 2, 2014 and used the recently-signed Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy as its starting point. The action plan is a new agreement entered into by B.C. and the states of Washington, Oregon and California. In the action plan, the signatories make a number of general commitments, and the survey listed five of them, asking respondents to rate them on a range from ‘top priority’ to ‘not a priority’.

Sauvé hopes the survey will be a bit of an eye-opener for the B.C. government if it proceeds with aggressive plans for liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments, particularly in the area around Kitimat and Prince Rupert. The province’s LNG in B.C. website identifies 16 proposed LNG projects, half of which would be clustered around Kitimat and Prince Rupert.

“What they’re proposing now, we know will make it impossible for B.C. to meet its 2020 climate targets, should those plans go through,” says Sauvé.

Mass opposition to Squamish LNG plant sparks calls for citizens' vote (Jul 19) — Vancouver Observer, Vancouver, BC

A Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the backyard of Vancouver – the tourist-friendly Squamish district on the way to Whistler – was angrily opposed by more than one hundred residents outside a city hall meeting earlier this week.

Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline proposal faced … a citizen’s vote in Kitimat in April and lost. Fifty-nine per cent of residents voted against the oil sands pipeline, despite a huge advertising push, and corporate canvassers going door-to-door.

United States

Another LNG export bill introduced — LNG Law Blog

Oil & Gas Journal reports that Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) has introduced S. 2638, a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to make a national interest determination on an LNG export application within 45 days after an LNG export project sponsor has filed an application with FERC. The article states that Hoeven said “the measure is a simple compromise between LNG export proposals Republicans and Democrats have offered because it keeps DOE in the process, but provides certainty by placing a reasonable timeline for it to make a decision.” The text of the bill was not available at press time. The bill is one of several pending bills intended to require quicker action by DOE on LNG export applications. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: The DOE has already changed its process, not making a national interest determination until FERC has issued a permit; and, FERC permitting can take years. Sen. Hoeven wants the DOE to jump over FERC's decision period — setting the DOE process back similar to the way it was previous to the change.

AEA comments on proposed changes to LNG export decisions — LNG Industry

“The changes proposed by the Department of Energy to the LNG export review process must continue to be guided by what is in the public interest of all Americans. The public interest test is the very centre of the Natural Gas Act. Yet the Department of Energy has yet to define the underlying standards that the Department is using to assess whether proposed LNG exports are in the public interest,” wrote America’s Energy Advantage.

Webmaster's comment: The DOE's decision making so far has been heavily weight on what is in the best interest of the natural gas industry, not on what is in the best interest of the American environment and public.

USA: one LNG cargo imported in May (Jul 23) — LNG World News

The U.S. imported only one liquefied natural gas cargo in May, according to the U.S. Department of Energy data.

One LNG cargo was also exported in May from Alaska’s Kenai liqefaction facility to Japan. The 135,000 cbm Excel LNG tanker departed from the Exxon-operated facility on May 13.[Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Obama is wrong about natural gas (Jul 23) — Dissident Voice

Natural gas is falsely promoted by the Obama Administration and energy corporations as a “bridge fuel” that will allow American society to continue to use fossil energy over the coming decades while emitting fewer greenhouse gases than from using other fossil fuels such as coal and oil.

On this basis, President Obama is providing total support to a massive expansion of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for natural gas within the U.S. He seeks sufficient quantities to last for many decades, allowing the U.S. to export liquefied natural gas and oil throughout the world.

The U.S. government’s heavy concentration on producing and using such “bridge” fuels as natural gas, “clean” coal, oil and nuclear power, with only token attention to renewable resources such as wind and solar energy, will significantly increase global warming. But as with sonic cannons and sea creatures, trillions in quick profits for the capitalist economic system trump the needs of unimaginable numbers of human beings who will suffer the consequences.

DOE LNG export analysis ‘inadequate’ (Jul 23) — LNG Industry

In its comments, Sierra Club said that the DOE’s analysis was inaccurate, as it failed to take into account the effects of increased US gas production (e.g. increases in greenhouse gas emissions) that would come with LNG exports. This, the organisation said, was inconsistent with the administrations’ aim to cut climate pollution emissions by 17% come 2020.

Sierra Club criticised the DOE’s assumption that LNG exports represented a one-for-one displacement of other fossil fuel use in end-use markets. LNG exports, the organisation said, would prevent [renewable] sources of energy such as solar and wind from coming online.

"The DOE is part of an administration that wants to address climate disruption head-on,” Matthews continued. “However, the DOE's analysis of LNG lifecycle emissions falls short on several fronts. First, it needs to reflect the many recent studies that show that EPA has drastically underestimated the amount of methane leaked during gas production. Equally important, the analysis fails to take into account that LNG will displace new clean energy projects in the importing countries, and the increase in drilling and fracking to meet export demand will increase overall carbon pollution emissions, putting it at odds with the Administration's goal to reduce carbon pollution emissions 17% by 2020." [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Sierra Club irked by U.S. LNG export stance (Jul 22) — UPI

U.S. policies on the export of liquefied natural gas are out of step with renewable and climate protection goals, the Sierra Club said.

"The increase in drilling and fracking [needed] to meet export demand will increase overall carbon pollution emissions, putting it at odds with the Administration's goal to reduce carbon pollution emissions 17 percent by 2020," [Sierra Club attorney Nathan Matthews] said in a statement.

Shale's social license (Jul 21) — Oil & Gas Journal [Paid subscription]

The newfound abundance of oil and gas unlocked by the shale revolution has yielded increased public scrutiny of the oil and gas industry in the US, bringing with it a host of new challenges and opportunities for constructive collaboration. A Gallup poll conducted in 2012 found that nearly two thirds of Americans hold a negative view of the oil and gas industry. Public disdain is palatable. "Fracking" is now a household term with a connotation of vulgarity. Hydraulic fracturing bans are proposed in Michigan, Nevada, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and there's no end in sight to a de-facto moratorium in New York state. In this atmosphere o... [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

North America

ANALYSIS-Falling gas prices threaten LNG export projects (Jul 10) — (Reuters) CNBC

A sharp fall in European and Asian gas prices this year will put liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects worldwide under heavy cost pressure, and even kill some off, as expected returns on investments have to be revised down along with prices.

If [European and Asian natural gas prices being paid] remain low, analysts say many of the large and costly planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects around the world, including in North America and East Africa, will face trouble as initially budgeted returns on investment have to be revised downward.

With British prices down from over 70 pence a therm in January to around 36.50 pence ($6.25/mmBtu) in early July, Europe is now well out of the money for U.S. supplies, and with Asian prices down to $11 per mmBtu, this region is also on the brink of looking uncompetitive. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay

Panel finds Maine Legislature erred in passing laws on tribal fishing rights, calls parties back to negotiating table (Jul 12) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

The Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission released a report Friday in which it found the Maine Legislature circumvented the amendment process set forth in the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act when it passed laws on saltwater fishery matters without the consent of the Passamaquoddy Tribe in 1998, 2013 and 2014.

“The Passamaquoddy people view saltwater fishing as an inherent right,” Chief R. Clayton Cleaves of the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s Pleasant Point community. “This right was not given to us by the state of Maine or any other state. We have always said that right was never discussed during the Settlement Act negotiations, therefore it is retained.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: "What has this got to do with LNG?" you may ask. It has to do with Passamaquoddy rights in the marine waterway, and Downeast LNG's flagrant refusal to comply with those rights.

Downeast LNG falsely claims that the Passamaquoddy have no rights in the waterway; thus, has made no effort to comply with the US Coast Guard Letter of Recommendation on LNG transits in Passamaquoddy Bay requiring Downeast LNG to obtain consent from the Passamaquoddy Tribal Government for use of the waterway.

The Maine Indian-Tribal State Commission has demonstrated that the state of Maine erred in its position that inspired Downeast LNG's refusal to recognize Passamaquoddy tribal rights in the waterway.

Passamaquoddy rights won out in federal court against the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and now-dead Quoddy Bay LNG, and tribal rights trump Downeast LNG's proposed inappropriate use of the waterway.

Vaughn Palmer: B.C.’s LNG clock ticks as price in Asia plunges (Jul 15) — The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC

[This article also appears under the British Columbia heading, below.]

“A sharp fall in European and Asian gas prices this year will put liquefied natural gas export projects worldwide under heavy cost pressure, and even kill some off, as expected returns on investments have to be revised down along with prices,” said a Reuters report out of the United Kingdom last week.

“The price of liquefied natural gas in Asia has plunged by nearly half over the past five months, to the lowest level in more than three years. Analysts say that if the price stays at current levels, Asian buyers may be less willing to commit to buying gas from planned billion-dollar export projects in the U.S., Canada and Australia.”

“Producers around the world — including in the newly gas-rich U.S. — are racing to lock up market share in the Asia-Pacific region, in many cases much more aggressively than Canada,” they wrote. “There are more proposed LNG-export projects around the world than will be required to meet projected demand for the foreseeable future.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG is already too far behind other major players to have any realistic chance at profitably selling LNG overseas. But then, Downeast LNG is prohibited from LNG transits to or from its phantom terminal, so the overseas price of LNG is moot.

Maine & New England

Ways to deal with natural gas price spikes in Maine, New England under advisement (Jul 15) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

New England’s governors and electricity grid manager have agreed to work together to improve the region’s energy infrastructure, including exploration of how to expand access to natural gas. But participants in the region’s energy markets differ on how to do so.

In preparation for a coordinated request for energy project proposals through the regional group or each state, a chorus of electricity companies, pipeline companies and other stakeholders shared their thoughts earlier this month on the general outline of a plan supporters say will lower power costs by increasing the supply of natural gas dedicated to the region’s electricity generators.

The responses were varied. Houston-based Spectra Energy said it could double the capacity of two pipelines it operates serving New England and Maine by 2018. NRG Energy Inc. criticized the premise of NESCOE’s tariff proposal for interfering in the region’s competitive energy markets.

A report by the Portland-based energy consultancy Competitive Energy Services noted expanding pipeline capacity by 1 billion cubic feet per day would mean electricity generators would spend 800 fewer hours powered by LNG, a level it said raises doubts about whether the Canaport LNG terminal in Saint John, New Brunswick, and Distrigas in Everett, Massachusetts, could continue to operate at those “severely reduced volumes.”

British Columbia

Vaughn Palmer: B.C.’s LNG clock ticks as price in Asia plunges (Jul 15) — The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC

[This article also appears under the Passamaquoddy Bay heading, above.]

“A sharp fall in European and Asian gas prices this year will put liquefied natural gas export projects worldwide under heavy cost pressure, and even kill some off, as expected returns on investments have to be revised down along with prices,” said a Reuters report out of the United Kingdom last week.

“The price of liquefied natural gas in Asia has plunged by nearly half over the past five months, to the lowest level in more than three years. Analysts say that if the price stays at current levels, Asian buyers may be less willing to commit to buying gas from planned billion-dollar export projects in the U.S., Canada and Australia.”

“Producers around the world — including in the newly gas-rich U.S. — are racing to lock up market share in the Asia-Pacific region, in many cases much more aggressively than Canada,” they wrote. “There are more proposed LNG-export projects around the world than will be required to meet projected demand for the foreseeable future.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG is already too far behind other major players to have any realistic chance at profitably selling LNG overseas. But then, Downeast LNG is prohibited from LNG transits to or from its phantom terminal, so the overseas price of LNG is moot.

Province says oil and gas projects won’t harm Kitimat airshed — CHMJ-AM, Vancouver, BC

An assessment looked at twelve scenarios involving the effects of sulphur and nitrogen emissions, including of a proposed oil refinery and four proposed liquefied natural gas facilities.

Polak was asked why particulate matter and greenhouse gases emissions weren’t included. She says those issues will be looked at in separate studies. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: The airshed isn't impacted by particulate matter and greenhouse gases? Welcome to British Columbia government logic — logic also claiming that emissions from burning natural gas to produce LNG don't count as pollutants!

Kitimat airshed modelling has narrow focus — Business in Vancouver, Vancouver, BC

A study on the cumulative impacts of pollution from industry in Kitimat does not report on particulates – considered to be among the most harmful pollutants to humans.

Fine particulate matter is among the most harmful of air pollutants. It can cause or aggravate heart and lung disease and asthma and lead to heart attacks, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The reason this study didn’t report on that is that we hadn’t asked them to,” Polak said. “We specifically wanted to get at the issue of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

VIDEO: Coun. Heintzman calls for LNG referendum (Jul 16) — The Squamish Chief, Squamish, BC

With over 100 anti-liquefied natural gas protestors sporting plaques outside of Squamish’s city hall at Tuesday’s (July 15) council meeting, Heintzman asked that the proposed Woodfibre export facility be put to referendum.

Protesters spilled over from council chamber into the District of Squamish’s lobby. My Sea To Sky, an anti-Woodfibre LNG group that aims to raise residents’ key concerns regarding the proposed Howe Sound project, organized the rally. The group comprises business owners, scientists, doctors, retired lawyers, teachers and various professionals, all sharing one request, My Sea To Sky member Delena Angrignon told council.

Many residents feel they’ve been left in the dark, My Sea To Sky co-founder Tracey Saxby said. The meetings held by Woodfibre proponents last June were a “sham,” she said. Officials at open houses introduced a separate feedback process that further confused residents wanting to submit comments to the official provincial environmental assessment, Saxby said. - See more at: http://www.squamishchief.com/news/local-news/video-coun-heintzman-calls-for-lng-referendum-1.1208911#sthash.ePs4O4oM.dpuf

Oregon

FERC issues schedule for environmental review — LNG Law Blog

FERC issued a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review for the Jordan Cove Liquefaction and Pacific Connector Pipeline Projects. The planned schedule set February 27, 2015, as the date for the issuance of notice of availability of the final Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) and May 28, 2015, as the 90-day Federal Authorization Decision Deadline. Jordan Cove’s proposed LNG export terminal is located near Coos Bay, Oregon.

United States

FERC nominee approved despite Murkowski’s objection (Jul 17) — Alaska Public Media, AK

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, had two members confirmed on Tuesday. Cheryl LaFleur, acting chair of the Commission, was approved in a 90-7 vote. The vote for the second nominee, Norman Bay, had a much closer vote of 52-45. The vote on Bay’s nomination fell along mostly partisan lines, though two Democrats did break ranks to vote with the Republican minority. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was one of the more vocal opponent’s of Norman Bay’s nomination. Murkowski, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy committee, says that part of her reason for opposing the nomination has to do with President Barack Obama’s intent to make Bay, a first time Commission member, the chairman of FERC. [Colored emphasis added.]

World

The World Council of Churches divests from fossil fuels (Jul 14) — Treehugger

I was impressed a few weeks ago when a top Catholic university and Union Theological Seminary both voted to divest from fossil fuels. Now we hear via The Guardian that The World Council of Churches—an organization that represents 345 member churches, including the Church of England, is also pulling its money from dirty fossil fuels.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is the latest—perhaps surprising—voice to add fuel to this fire. As the International Business Editor for Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, he is hardly the voice of lefty treehuggerdom. He is convinced, however, that the carbon bubble is real and looming, and may pose a bigger threat than subprime mortgages and all those other shenanigans that got us in so much trouble recently:

Passamaquoddy Bay

ANALYSIS-Falling gas prices threaten LNG export projects (Jul 10) — Reuters

[This article also appears under the North America heading, below.]

A sharp fall in European and Asian gas prices this year will put liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects worldwide under heavy cost pressure, and even kill some off, as expected returns on investments have to be revised down along with prices.

Benchmark British gas prices for delivery next month have almost halved this year as healthy supplies have been met by low demand following a mild winter and because overall gas use is dropping due to improving energy efficiency, rising competing fuels like renewables and low population growth.

Asian spot prices have also come off sharply this year, shedding over 40 percent in value as demand growth slowed and new supplies in the Pacific region became available, although prices remain almost twice as high as in Britain and around three times as expensive as in North America.

If gas prices remain low, analysts say many of the large and costly planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects around the world, including in North America and East Africa, will face trouble as initially budgeted returns on investment have to be revised downward. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG was 6 years late getting into the LNG import business. It looks like it is just as behind in the LNG export business.

 

Northeast & United States

Battling Cove Point in the Capital — The Nation

For months now, a motley crew of local activists has tried—and failed—to halt Dominion Resources’ Cove Point, a proposed $3.8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Lusby, Maryland. On Sunday, the movement got a much-needed boost from some regional and national allies.

The project’s opponents share a range of concerns: on the local level, they say, the plant poses safety risks for nearby residents. They worry, too, that Cove Point will encourage more hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, across Mid-Atlantic shale fields and prompt Maryland to drop its de-facto moratorium on the drilling technique, which expires in August. Western Maryland sits squarely on top of the Marcellus Shale, a hotbed of fracking activity, but the land's been off-limits to drillers, as a state commission wraps up its three year long study on the health and safety impacts of shale drilling.

Activists also argue that Cove Point—and other LNG terminals like it—will deepen the global climate crisis. Indeed, as a recent Department of Energy report suggested, the LNG export process—which involves extracting, piping, liquefying and shipping gas across the world, then re-gasifying and piping the product to consumers—has the potential to produce more greenhouse gas emissions than a coal-fired power plant of comparable power output. The heavy footprint comes largely from methane, which has about twenty times the climate impact of carbon dioxide.

It’s hard to ignore the irony of Cove Point opponents making demands to FERC. The agency is notoriously friendly to energy industry interests—something that activists openly mocked on stage at Sunday’s rally when they sang an adaptation of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine: “We all know FERC’s a rubber stamp machine, a rubber stamp machine, a rubber stamp machine,” went the tune.

That’s far from hyperbole. In fact, over the last 12 years, FERC has rarely, if ever, met a gas infrastructure application it hasn’t approved.

As one energy CEO quipped in June, the FERC “process [is] designed to produce a ‘yes’ in the end. You may have to tweak your project; you may have to do a lot of work. It’s designed to get a ‘yes.’”

Anit-fracking activists rally with opponents of LNG export facility — Free Speech Radio News (FSRN)

On Sunday afternoon, about 2,000 people marched in the heat of mid-summer Washington,D.C., from a rally on the national mall to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; the first-ever demonstration at FERC. They were protesting what they called FERC’s rubber stamp approval process for an export facility for liquified natural gas, or LNG, in a heavily populated area of southern Maryland called Cove Point. It’s one of 14 such proposed facilities around the country. Much of the natural gas slated for export would be extracted through the process of fracking, which is already happening in the Marcellus Shale formation located in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. That’s leading anti-fracking groups to form an alliance with opponent of LNG export terminals. Melinda Tuhus reports from D.C.

Mike Tidwell of CCAN said FERC does more to facilitate the production of natural gas than to regulate it. “They facilitate fossil fuel projects. They’ve never denied a major electrical or gas project ever presented to them – ever. So they’re an isolated, non-responsive commission that does not take into account public safety or health and instead all they do is try to further the profits of the fossil fuel industry.” [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

24 protesters arrested in anti-fracking demonstration — Wisconsin Gazette, WI

About two dozen people were arrested on July 14 as they blocked the entrances to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission headquarters in protest of the proposed Cove Point liquefied natural gas export facility and others proposed around the country.

The demonstration was the second consecutive day of action.

On July 13, more than a thousand people rallied on the National Mall to protest the project and others.

Then protesters linked arms and blocked the main entrance and a secondary entrance of FERC as employees came in to work on July 14. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

DC rally focuses on Cove Point project — The Baynet.com, MD

The Sunday rally started at the Capitol Building and ended approximately one mile later at FERC headquarters. The protestors traversed the DC streets with the familiar 100-foot pipeline prop while many other marchers carried banners. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Hundreds protest US plans to export fracked gas (Jul 13) — Aljazeera America

Hundreds of protesters marched Sunday in Washington, D.C., to show their opposition to a planned natural gas export terminal in Maryland that would ship gas fracked in the United States overseas to Asia.

The Stop Fracked Gas Exports rally, backed by more than 40 environmental groups, called on the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulations Committee (FERC) to halt final approval of a port they say will endanger local health and safety.

U.S. oil and gas production has skyrocketed along with the advent of fracking or hydraulic fracturing — a controversial process in which large volumes of water, chemicals, and sand are shot underground to release trapped oil and gas deposits. With plans already in motion to begin converting other U.S. import terminals to export oil and gas, a growing national movement has argued that exporting U.S. oil and gas will raise fuel prices at home, reduce America's energy independence, and contribute to climate change.

"Our message to President Obama and FERC will be clear: Keep the gas in the ground. You can’t fight climate change by expanding fossil fuel use," the groups said. "You can’t lower greenhouse gas emissions by addicting the world to methane leakage that’s as bad as or worse for the atmosphere than coal. You can’t make America great by destroying her rural communities with drilling, pipelines, compressor stations, earthquakes, and flammable tap water." [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Study raises safety concerns about Cove Point gas facility (Jul 11) — The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD

Ricardo-AEA, commissioned by some nearby residents and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, concluded that plans to convert the Cove Point import terminal for liquefied natural gas into one processing and exporting large quantities of the volatile fuel pose additional, possibly "intolerable" risks for workers at the site and people living within eight-tenths of a mile of it.

Opponents contend the federal review glossed over safety concerns and have appealed to Gov. Martin O'Malley to have the state perform its own study. They point out that the state conducted such a study in 2006 when Dominion planned a more modest update of its LNG import facilities at Cove Point. O'Malley also submitted a state safety study several years ago in opposition to a proposed LNG import terminal at Sparrows Point in Baltimore, they note.

[Mark Broomfield, author of the report,] acknowledged that his assessment of Cove Point was handicapped by limited information, but key pieces were redacted from the public record. The documents he could see indicate to him that the risks are "excessive," the consultant said. While Dominion may have been able to convince regulators it would take adequate safety precautions to offset those hazards, the consultant said, many of the specifics are not publicly available. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Here's another complication for fracking — radioactive waste (Jul 9) — Public Radio International (PRI)

All rocks have some radiation in them, explains Matt Richmond, a reporter for WSKG and the Allegheny Front, who has been following the story. But the Marcellus Shale in the eastern US, one of the regions where fracking is booming, is an unusually radioactive underground formation. A recent study found radiation levels three times higher than in other rock layers.

States in and around the fracking boom are trying to figure out what to do about all this naturally radioactive waste from drilling. Pennsylvania is conducting a study of radiation in the Marcellus Shale. West Virginia passed a law to segregate drill cuttings within landfills. New York State has a moratorium on fracking, but it accepts radioactive drilling waste from nearby Pennsylvania — and that has touched off an intense debate.

…[Avner Vengosh, a geochemist at Duke University,] says there’s a risk that, once radium locked deep underground gets into streams and rivers, it will make its way into fish and eventually into people.

The particular form of radium found in the Marcellus Shale, radium-226, has a half-life of more than 5,000 years. Once it gets into the environment, it’s there for good. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Gulf of Mexico

Golden Pass LNG files FERC application (Jul 8) — LNG Industry

Golden Pass Products LLC said it has applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to construct and operate its proposed LNG project at the existing Golden Pass LNG import facility in Sabine Pass, Texas.

British Columbia

Court’s land claims ruling harms Canada’s business environment (Jul 13) — The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON

Under previous legal rulings, the “basis of occupation” to be used in establishing aboriginal title was limited to the immediate environs around settlements. The Supreme Court has vastly expanded that, saying: “[A]boriginal title … extends to tracts of land that were regularly used for hunting, fishing or otherwise exploiting resources and over which the group exercised effective control at the time of assertion of European sovereignty” (that is, the mid-1800s). The court justifies this extreme interpretation by stating “… what is required is a culturally sensitive approach to sufficiency of occupation based on the dual perspectives of the Aboriginal group in question … and the common-law notion of possession as a basis for title.”

Having established the broad criteria for transforming land claims into formal title, the court defines its nature and limitations, saying: “[A]boriginal title means that governments and others seeking to use the land must obtain the consent of the Aboriginal title holders.” The lone exception is when, after consulting and attempting to accommodate, proceeding without consent is backed by “a compelling and substantial objective.” In addressing the question of what might qualify as such an objective, the court refers to the 1991 Delgamuukw decision, citing “the development of agriculture, forestry, mining and hydroelectric power, the general economic development of the interior of British Columbia, protection of the environment or endangered species, the building of infrastructure and the settlement of foreign populations in support of those aims …” Because natural gas and oil pipelines are transportation infrastructure, this section may prove crucial to both the LNG projects and the proposed Northern Gateway oil project. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Vancouver Island First Nations Band signs agreement to develop LNG plant (Jul 8) — Globalnews.ca

The Huu-ay-aht First Nations (HFN) and Steelhead LNG Corp. announced today they have signed an agreement to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on HFN-owned land at Sarita Bay.

Sarita Bay is located about 10 km north of Anacla, at the southern end of Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island.

On July 8, Steelhead LNG applied to the National Energy Board for a license to export up to 30 million tonnes of LNG per year for 25 years. They will have to bring the gas from northern B.C. to western Vancouver Island and are still looking at options to work with pipeline companies to do so.

Steelhead proposes US$30-billion LNG export facility on Vancouver island (Jul 8) — Financial Post, Don Mills, ON

Upstart firm Steelhead LNG Corp. is hoping that it can break the dominance of major gas players to carve a market for independent companies in British Columbia’s crowded liquefied natural gas market.

If it moves ahead, the US$30-billion plan would be among the biggest of the 13 LNG projects on the West Coast being proposed by major players such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Chevron Corp. and Petronas Bhd, but the first production line may be a more modest 12 mtpa.

Oregon

Jordan Cove anxiety courses through Ron Wyden town hall (Jul 7) — The World, Coos Bay, OR

The liquefied natural gas export terminal’s regulatory process doesn’t really begin, [US Senator Ron Wyden] said, until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s environmental impact statement is released. The draft EIS is expected any day. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Sen. Ron Wyden is seriously lacking understanding of the LNG terminal permitting process. Release of the EIS is near the very end of the federal permitting process.

North America

ANALYSIS-Falling gas prices threaten LNG export projects (Jul 10) — Reuters

[This article also appears under the Passamaquoddy Bay heading, above.]

A sharp fall in European and Asian gas prices this year will put liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects worldwide under heavy cost pressure, and even kill some off, as expected returns on investments have to be revised down along with prices.

Benchmark British gas prices for delivery next month have almost halved this year as healthy supplies have been met by low demand following a mild winter and because overall gas use is dropping due to improving energy efficiency, rising competing fuels like renewables and low population growth.

Asian spot prices have also come off sharply this year, shedding over 40 percent in value as demand growth slowed and new supplies in the Pacific region became available, although prices remain almost twice as high as in Britain and around three times as expensive as in North America.

If gas prices remain low, analysts say many of the large and costly planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects around the world, including in North America and East Africa, will face trouble as initially budgeted returns on investment have to be revised downward. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG was 6 years late getting into the LNG import business. It looks like it is just as behind in the LNG export business.

Passamaquoddy Bay

Downeast LNG changes plans, proposes export/import facility (Jun 26) — The Quoddy Tides, Eastport, ME

After waiting nearly eight years for federal permitting for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Robbinston and having finally received a positive final environmental impact statement (FEIS) in May but no final approval yet, Downeast LNG plans to file a new application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to redesign the project so that the facility also could export natural gas. While the new plan would allow for both importing and exporting natural gas, Downeast LNG also is proposing to purchase domestic natural gas at low prices in the summer, keep it stored in Robbinston and sell it at a higher price during the winter to help meet the peak demand in New England.

However, critics of the plan wonder why the proposal is being kept alive, since they believe it does not make economic sense. And Save Passamaquoddy Bay, which opposes the project, recently asked FERC to dismiss the current project application "with prejudice," meaning the company would not be allowed to refile it.

FERC spokesperson Tamara Young-Allen says the revised project will require the filing of a new application to FERC, and the Department of Energy will need to authorize the exporting of LNG. She says FERC applications usually take 18 months to two years before a decision is made, although the Downeast LNG application for an import terminal has been under consideration by FERC since December 2006. There is no deadline for when a decision needs to be made by FERC on the original application.

Critics of the Robbinston LNG proposal are pointed in their assessments. Barbara Shook, senior reporter-at-large for the Energy Intelligence Group in Houston, Texas, comments, "I have no idea why they're still pursuing this. There's no reason for this project to be kept alive." She asks, "Why would they want to be an import terminal? There's market but no supply. It makes more sense in the short run but not the long term. I don't know where they'd get their supply." Shook also wonders where the facility would get the gas to be an export terminal. "It's a real question whether they could obtain natural gas to export," she says, noting that it would depend on reversal of the gas flow in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline and when that will happen is "a total unknown."

Save Passamaquoddy Bay also is sharp in its criticisms of the proposal. On June 24, the group filed a motion to FERC to dismiss or deny Downeast LNG's permit applications with prejudice, arguing that Downeast LNG has abused the permitting process by withholding information from FERC and the public. Bob Godfrey of Save Passamaquoddy Bay says, "Girdis, Downeast LNG and investors did not just suddenly make their decision to change the project C in July of 2013 Downeast LNG spent $2.5 million to buy the project property. They obviously have been planning this for quite a while. As a result, Downeast LNG's FERC applications are for a project very different from the project the company has actually been planning."

Godfrey says that since the same safety, environmental, cultural and economic problems remain, the government of Canada is no more likely to allow LNG ship transits for the new proposal than for the existing proposal. He comments, "Downeast LNG's new proposal simply appears to be Dean Girdis' way of continuing to milk his cash cow investors while saving embarrassment from surrendering to reality. Girdis and Downeast LNG have been wasting federal and state taxpayers' time and money now since 2005 with cockamamie schemes that have no merit." [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

SPB calling for Downeast LNG's application to be dismissed (Jul 1) — The Saint Croix Courier, St. Stephen, NB [Paid subscription]

[This article is accessible only by paid subscription or printed newspaper. We do not provide a link.]

Save Passamaquoddy Bay (SPB) is calling on the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to dismiss Downeast LNG's permit applications now that the company has revealed plans to develop a bi-directional facility.

SPB says Downeast has abused the permitting process in conflict with public interest as, for seven years, the company led FERC and the public to believe its purpose was to construct an LNG import terminal, two storage tanks, and to supply New England with imported LNG.

In the submission to FERC, SPB's researcher and webmaster Robert Godfrey said the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) claims that Downeast has no plans for future expansion or abandonment of the proposed terminal or pipeline facilities.

"Contradicting the purpose stated in the EIS, Downeast LNG has announced to the world that it actually intends something quite different — to reduce its LNG storage capability and to expand facility capability to export domestic source LNG."

The stated purpose in the application does not match the actual intent stated in the recent press release from Downeast, said Godfrey, which indicates a significant change and an expansion.

"Thus, in the middle of the public's last chance to comment on the EIS, information regarding Downeast LNG's real intent, and any data related to the new project, is not included. In fact, FERC staff, legal counsel, and the commissioners have been kept ignorant of this new project.

"Downeast LNG's hiding their real intent from FERC has also kept the truth from Save Passamaquoddy Bay, a grassroots alliance of local intervenors, all other intervenors, the Passamaquoddy nation, and the government of Canada. All of this lays the foundation for legal recourse against a FERC decision to grant permitting."

"Save Passamaquoddy Bay petitions the Commission to either dismiss Downeast LNG's applications with prejudice or to deny the permits with prejudice." [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

New England

2014 Pipeline Roundup: Moving Marcellus and Utica Production to New Markets (Jul 6) — Penn State Extension, PA

Northeast Energy Direct (NED) Project (Kinder Morgan)

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, is proposing the Northeast Energy Direct Project from Troy, PA through Upstate New York into Massachusetts to meet growing demand in the New England. The project includes 246 miles of greenfield pipe plus an additional 100 miles of looping on existing lines and compression upgrades. Capacity could be as much as 2.2 Bcf/day pending interest from customers in New England and eastern Canada. The proposed project is estimated to be placed in service by November 2018. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Gulf of Mexico

Golden Pass files formal FERC application — The Port Arthur News, Port Arthur, TX

SABINE PASS — Golden Pass Products LLC announced today it has submitted a formal application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at the existing world-class Golden Pass LNG import facility in Sabine Pass, Texas. This important milestone demonstrates Golden Pass Products’ continued success in advancing the project, which would bring significant and lasting benefits to the region and the U.S.

British Columbia

Opinion: Make Prince Rupert the terminus — Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, AB

The recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling should give pause to Enbridge to consider that Port of Prince Rupert as a viable alternative of its plan to build two pipelines from Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton, to Kitimat, B.C.

Kitimat, which lies at the northwest end of the 140-kilometre Douglas Channel, presents many ecological challenges. At the channel mouth is a large area of inlets and islands where salmon gather before heading upstream to spawn. It’s also where humpback whales gather to feed every year from as far away as Hawaii and Mexico, and these docile creatures will often sleep on the surface. No place to be sharing with 1,200-foot seagoing tankers moving in this narrow channel which can be fogged in many times of the year. [Colored emphasis added.]

Public comments invited - Aurora LNG project [Press release] — CNW

As part of the strengthened and modernized Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 (CEAA 2012) put in place to support the government's Responsible Resource Development Initiative, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) must decide whether a federal environmental assessment is required for the proposed Aurora LNG Project, located near Prince Rupert, British Columbia (B.C). To assist it in making its decision, the Agency is seeking comments from the public on the project and its potential effects on the environment. [Colored emphasis added.]

United States

Methane’s role in climate change — Chemical & Engineering News

FLARES
About 40% (1 billion cu ft per day) of natural gas cogenerated during oil production operations in the Bakken formation of North Dakota is not sold or used. Most is flared as waste.

A growing body of literature supports the view that methane emissions are higher than levels reported by industry and EPA. A study released earlier this year by a team led by Adam R. Brandt of Stanford University examined some 20 years of technical literature and 200 papers and found that federal officials have consistently underestimated actual methane emissions, which the report says are some 50% higher than EPA’s estimates (Science 2014, DOI: 10.1126/science.1247045).

However, not all studies found problems in EPA’s data. An examination by scientists at the University of Texas, Austin, backed EPA’s numbers (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1304880110.)

The disparity might be resolved by upcoming research that will merge top-down and bottom-up approaches to emissions measurements. Those studies are just getting under way, notes Drew Nelson, EDF senior manager for natural gas projects. EDF and the gas and oil industry are funding 16 studies involving 90 academic and industry collaborators, and results are expected this year, Nelson says.

So far, EPA has been unwilling to directly regulate methane emissions. Under court order, the agency issued regulations in 2012 intended to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollution from gas wells. Although methane wasn’t specified in the rules, the gas will be captured in these efforts as a cobenefit. The regulations affect new wells beginning in 2015 on a phased schedule.

But the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group, is more circumspect after parsing a recent DOE report on LNG exports to Europe. It finds that if the oil and gas system methane leak rate exceeds 1.9%, U.S. natural gas loses its greenhouse gas advantage over European coal. To retain a climate benefit, natural gas leakage must be below 1.4% if shipped to Asia, the group says. The climate action network, which opposes LNG terminal expansion, is urging federal regulators to consider global climate impact when permitting new LNG terminals. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

DOE proposal upends process for authorizing LNG exports — LNG Law Blog

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a Notice of Proposed Procedures (NPP) for LNG export decisions, outlining proposed changes to the way LNG export permits will be issued. The DOE is proposing to act on applications to export LNG only after a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act is complete. This would suspend the DOE’s practice of issuing conditional decisions to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay

Declining LNG prices [to Asia] spell bad news for Premier Christy Clark's dream of a new industry (Jul 4) — Georgia Strait, BC

[This article also appears under the British Columbia heading, below.]

According to an article in Business Day, the spot prices for August delivery are down to US$12 per million British thermal units.

…[A]n Ernst & Young report concluded that North American LNG projects require an Asian price of US$12 to US$13 to remain viable.

There are 14 proposed LNG projects in B.C., according to the B.C. government's website. None of the proponents have made a final investment decision.

Webmaster's comment: US export projects — especially those on the Atlantic coast where distances to Asia are even greater than from British Columbia — are playing an even riskier game than those in BC. Downeast LNG might say they want to export to Asia, but their lateness to export and the realities of transportation to Asia make their "new" project even more foolish.

 

British Columbia

Declining LNG prices [to Asia] spell bad news for Premier Christy Clark's dream of a new industry (Jul 4) — Georgia Strait, BC

[This article also appears under the Passamaquoddy Bay heading, above.]

According to an article in Business Day, the spot prices for August delivery are down to US$12 per million British thermal units.

…[A]n Ernst & Young report concluded that North American LNG projects require an Asian price of US$12 to US$13 to remain viable.

There are 14 proposed LNG projects in B.C., according to the B.C. government's website. None of the proponents have made a final investment decision.

Webmaster's comment: US export projects — especially those on the Atlantic coast where distances to Asia are even greater than from British Columbia — are playing an even riskier game than those in BC. Downeast LNG might say they want to export to Asia, but their lateness to export and the realities of transportation to Asia make their "new" project even more foolish.

LNG given free pass to pollute — The Daily Courier, Kelowna, BC

One of the thorniest issues in the joint review panel’s report on the Site C dam proposal is the provincial government’s hypocritical policy on the burning of natural gas for electricity.

“LNG developers have been promised a free hand to burn their gas here for their own purposes, but BC Hydro has been denied the same privilege,” the panel wrote.

United States

APGA: Companies exporting LNG should prove public interest (Jul 4) — LNG World News

As of June 11, DOE has received 42 applications to export domestic LNG from the contiguous United States to FTA or non-FTA nations. The total export capacity applied for to date is 39.31 Bcf/day and 35.95 Bcf/day to FTA and non-FTA nations, respectively. When an application is filed for FTA countries, the application is deemed to be consistent with the public interest and granted without modification or delay. In cases where an application is seeking exportation of LNG to non-FTA countries, the burden is on those opposed to the application to demonstrate to DOE that the application is not consistent with the public interest. APGA has stated that the burden of proof should be shifted to exporting companies. In other words, companies that seek to export LNG should have to prove to DOE that exporting LNG is in the public interest.

As communicated in previous LNG export filings, APGA states that LNG exports from the lower 48 state will have adverse impacts on gas prices and will threaten an opportunity to reduce our energy dependence. In its filing, APGA also communicated that suspending this proceeding and all other pending applications would be consistent with DOE’s recent decision to commission new studies regarding the impact of LNG exports on domestic prices. APGA states that the studies upon which DOE is currently relying are out of date and assume lower export quantities than now appears likely. Lastly, APGA pointed out that deferring consideration of this and other applications would be consistent with DOE’s stated preference for not reviewing export applications until after the necessary environmental review under NEPA is concluded. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine, New England, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia

Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline capacity to be expanded — CBC News

"Our pipelines are in the right place at the right time to supply the region’s electric plants with affordable, clean, domestic natural gas,” Bill Yardley, Spectra Energy’s president of U. S. transmission and storage said in a statement.

"That would help to address supply bottlenecks which tends to lead to lower prices which is a good thing for Atlantic Canada," she said.

Spectra's pipelines are not currently set up to ship gas into the Boston area and north to Maine.

But the company plans to reverse pipelines and increase capacity of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline and the Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines by up to one billion cubic feet per day. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine & New England

Spectra Energy to expand natural gas pipeline capacity [Press release] (Jul 1) — Spectra Energy

In order to meet critical demand for reliable electric power generation, Spectra Energy and Spectra Energy Partners revealed plans to expand the Algonquin and Maritimes natural gas pipeline systems capacity into the New England market.

These plans for expansion of the two pipeline systems are in response to the New England governors’ recent initiative on new energy infrastructure and in anticipation of a Request for Proposal to be initiated by The New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE). This expansion, as outlined in a June 27 letter to NESCOE, would create up to 1 Bcf/day in capacity, and is in addition to Spectra Energy’s previously announced Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) and Atlantic Bridge projects. The project in-service date is dependent upon the timing of NESCOE’s process.

“To enhance the reliability of approximately 60% of these generators, the company can expand the mainline and lateral facilities along the existing pipeline footprint while minimizing the effect on communities and the environment,” he added.

Spectra Energy’s expansion project will deliver gas directly to these natural gas-fired electric generators on a firm basis, providing increased electric reliability and leading to more competitive energy prices for the region. Specifically, the Spectra Energy solution for New England will:

• Provide guaranteed supplies of natural gas on peak days for strategic power plants, using existing pipeline routes, minimizing effects on communities, landowners, and the environment;
• Provide new innovative services, including the ability to accommodate the projected need for more gas-fired quick-start power generation units to respond to sudden changes in output from intermittent renewable resources;
• Be scalable, to ramp up supplies as demand grows;
• Provide direct access to low-cost natural gas supplies, and cost effective solutions that limit price volatility and generate annual savings to consumers.

Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market expansion project will begin to de-bottleneck the pipeline system by winter of 2016, helping to enhance reliability and soften natural gas prices in New England. AIM is underpinned by commitments from gas utility companies across southern New England that entered into long-term capacity contracts. Atlantic Bridge’s proposed in-service is November 2017, and it will be similarly supported by gas utilities. Electric power generators will typically only have access to gas from these projects when it becomes available on the unpredictable secondary market. The plans announced today will provide needed additional firm supplies, delivered directly to the power generators, to address the electric reliability issue. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Conservation group slams 'secret' work between governors, utilities (Jun24) — New Hampshire Union Leader, NH

The effort by New England governors to promote construction of electric transmission lines and a new natural gas pipeline into the region has been shrouded in secrecy, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, which on Tuesday released documents it obtained as part of a Freedom of Information request.

“The documents reveal not only outright hostility to conducting the planning process in the open, but also a troubling willingness on the part of state officials to take enormous risks with our money, our region’s energy progress and our climate,” wrote CLF staff attorney Christophe Courchesne in a blog post about the effort being coordinated by the New England States Committee on Electricity (NESCOE).

Northeast

Riverkeeper’s view: FERC’s Cove Point assessment is inadequate [Op-ed] — SoMdNews, MD

A clear consequence of converting the existing natural gas facility at Cove Point to an export facility will be to open the spigot of a delivery system to foreign countries. This will inevitably increase the overseas demand for our “cheap” natural gas, likely leading to more and more hydraulic fracturing here at home to meet the burgeoning demand. The fact that the staff at FERC did not relate the facility at Cove Point to the “fracking” process and extrapolate the consequences is a fundamental flaw in the report. Evaluating the environmental impact of the Dominion Cove Point export facility without considering the environmental impacts of fracking and the accelerated growth of drilling on our environment and society is meaningless.

Shaw criticizes Calvert’s environmental commission over LNG project handling — Gazette.net, MD

Shaw said the board is serious about not intruding on state or federal roles, and the environmental commission should be advising the commissioners, not FERC.

“If Commissioner Shaw is concerned about the truth, it would behoove her to follow the lead of the Calvert County Environmental Commission and question why no model assuming catastrophic failure was analyzed,” Tidwell said Tuesday.

Fracking study discovers new gas wells leak more (Jul 1) — TH Online, Dubuque, IA

WASHINGTON -- In Pennsylvania's gas drilling boom, newer and unconventional wells leak far more often than older and traditional ones, according to a study of state inspection reports for 41,000 wells.

The results suggest that leaks of methane could be a problem for drilling across the nation, said study lead author Cornell University engineering professor Anthony Ingraffea, who heads an environmental activist group that helped pay for the study.

The study was published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Overall, older wells -- those drilled before 2009 -- had a leak rate of about 1 percent. Most were traditional wells, drilling straight down. Unconventional wells -- those drilled horizontally and commonly referred to as fracking -- didn't come on the scene until 2006, but quickly took over.

Newer traditional wells drilled after 2009 had a leak rate of about 2 percent; the rate for unconventional wells was about 6 percent, the study found.

The leak rate reached as high as nearly 10 percent horizontally drilled wells for before and after 2009 in the northeastern part of the state, where drilling is hot and heavy. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

British Columbia

Premier's LNG dreams given reality check by Japanese expert (Jun 30) — The Tyee, Vancouver, BC

"LNG prices in the United States are based on Henry Hub.... It's a benchmark price determined purely by supply and demand of natural gas.... When Henry Hub is $5, and liquefaction and transportation is, say, something like $6 to $7, then the overall cost is around $12, which is much lower than [what Japan pays]. So there is a big expectation we may be able to import much cheaper LNG from the United States."

"If the Asian LNG price is very low, it's quite difficult to expect a big profit margin for any supplier.... But one characteristic of Canadian LNG projects, including B.C., is that all are greenfield projects [essentially, all the infrastructure needs to be built from scratch], which need a very big initial investment.... To secure this large-scale investment and to secure market outlets may be a very big challenge."

LNG wrong for B.C., critics say — The Squamish Chief, Squamish, BC

Part of My Sea to Sky’s agenda is to provide the public with rational, fact-based arguments that support the environmental protection of Squamish. The information session examined the carefully constructed rhetoric of Christy Clark’s $100 billion LNG Prosperity Fund, which promises to deliver a strong economy and prosperous future for British Columbians.

“Germany has three times as many jobs in renewable energy than we do in the oil and gas industry,” Madden said. “Canadian graduates are leaving the country to work for clean energy in countries like U.S. and China.”

My Sea to Sky’s increased community education efforts last week coincided with the delivery of a game-changing Tsilhqot’in court decision. The Supreme Court of Canada verdict, widely reported in the media, granted land title to the First Nation, giving them more power to determine whether or not energy projects can occur on their traditional territory.

Historic land claims ruling urges B.C. to forge closer ties with First Nations (Jul 1) — The Globe and Mail, Toronto, ON

Former Vancouver Island chief Judith Sayers said she senses the government is only interested in developing relationships with First Nations rich in resources or LNG potential. She said the government resists power sharing.

“There hasn’t been a willingness to push the big items that are stopping development,” she said. “I think the priority of the First Nations have been being able to exercise their rights and title without negative impact.”

LNG documentary underway (Jul 1) — The Squamish Chief, Squamish, BC

McDonald said he was tired of looking for Woodfibre LNG videos on YouTube and only finding pieces produced by B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s staff, who are waving the LNG flag. He wanted to hear what locals had to say and learn about how the project might impact their lives. - See more at: http://www.squamishchief.com/lifestyles/lng-documentary-underway-1.1189445#sthash.jIVhS1ms.dpuf

On Sunday (June 29), McDonald invited the community down to Nexen Beach for a potluck and interviews for the documentary. - See more at: http://www.squamishchief.com/lifestyles/lng-documentary-underway-1.1189445#sthash.jIVhS1ms.dpuf

Oregon

LNG goes back to drawing board (Jun 30) — The Daily Astorian, Astoria, OR

Clatsop County will once again have to decide the merits of a proposed 41-mile segment of pipeline that would bring natural gas to Warrenton for export.

The Land Use Board of Appeals issued a ruling Friday that found Clatsop County Commissioner Peter Huhtala was not impartial when voting to deny the Oregon LNG land-use application in October.

United States

Survey: public distrusts gas industry and anti-fracking film, Gasland (Jun 16) — StateImpact Pennsylvania, PA

A new study shows the public views both the natural gas industry and the anti-fracking film, Gasland, as among the least trustworthy sources of information when it comes to hydraulic fracturing.

According to a paper published last month in Energy Research and Social Science, people are more likely to trust information from university professors, environmental groups, newspapers, and landowner groups.

Regulatory agencies ranked fifth in trustworthiness among the eight possible choices. They were followed by cooperative extensions and the natural gas industry.

Trust in sources of information:

1. university professors
2. conservation/environmental groups
3. newspapers
4. landowner groups/coalitions
5. regulatory agencies
6. cooperative extension
7. natural gas industry
8. Gasland

Webmaster's comment: With the way FERC abuses the public's and stakeholders' interests, it's no wonder the public distrusts the agency.

Passamaquoddy Bay

United States: D.C. Circuit ruling has potential implications for natural gas pipeline and LNG projects under FERC environmental review (Jun 30) — Mondaq

[This article also appears under the United States heading, below.]

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected certain portions of an environmental analysis conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or "Commission"). This turn of events is likely to cause anyone with, or planning to have, a natural gas pipeline or liquefied natural gas project before the Commission for an environmental review to take notice and to anticipate a more comprehensive and robust level of scrutiny. The follow-on implications of the decision, while not entirely known, could cause the Commission to take an in-depth look at industry activities—such as those related to natural gas production and processing—that may not upon first glance appear to be part of the proposed project under review.

In Delaware Riverkeeper, the court found that the FERC had failed to adequately perform a segmentation and cumulative impacts analysis under NEPA. The court restated the rule concerning segmentation, explaining that "[a]n agency impermissibly 'segments' NEPA review when it divides connected, cumulative, or similar federal actions into separate projects and thereby fails to address the true scope and impact of the activities that should be under consideration." The court rejected the FERC's segmentation analysis as flawed, noting that the FERC is obligated to consider all "'connected actions,' 'cumulative actions,' and 'similar actions,'" as required by the NEPA regulations.

The court then shifted its focus to the FERC's cumulative impacts analysis, the purpose of which is to analyze "the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal) or person undertakes such other actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time." In the court's view, the FERC's cumulative impacts analysis did not recognize the Northeast Project, along with the three other projects on that same leg of pipeline, as "other actions – past, present, and proposed, and reasonably foreseeable." Accordingly, the court remanded Tennessee Gas back to the FERC for further consideration. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: FERC has similarly disregarded the cumulative impacts of other connected pipelines and LNG projects in Passamaquoddy Bay.

Natural gas plans for Robbinston are troubling (Jun 30) — CentralMaine.com

Phillip Davis’ June 20 letter, “Treated wastewater could be geothermal heat source,” rightly questions reliance on limited supplies of natural gas obtained through destruction of Pennsylvania farmland. Closer to home, my husband and I were shocked to learn on a recent trip to the Washington County town of Robbinston that Downeast LNG plans to construct a natural gas liquefaction and gasification plant to import and export natural gas.

Why should Robbinston be the site of a multi-million-dollar boondoggle proposed by Downeast LNG that threatens some of the cleanest and most beautiful land and water on Earth? Grass roots groups up and down coastal Maine have been fighting off proposals for LNG import, and now export, facilities for more than 10 years. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Oregon

Study suggests risk of earthquake and tsunami at proposed Jordan Cove LNG terminal — LNG Law Blog

The Oregonian reports on the risks that a large earthquake and resulting tsunami would pose to the proposed Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas terminal in Coos Bay. An Oregon State University study indicates there is a 40 percent chance of a mega-thrust earthquake and subsequent tsunami occurring in the region within the next 50 years. FERC’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the facility, which will assess the facility’s risks and mitigation plans, is due this summer. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

United States

United States: D.C. Circuit ruling has potential implications for natural gas pipeline and LNG projects under FERC environmental review (Jun 30) — Mondaq

[This article also appears under the Passamaquoddy Bay heading, above.]

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected certain portions of an environmental analysis conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or "Commission"). This turn of events is likely to cause anyone with, or planning to have, a natural gas pipeline or liquefied natural gas project before the Commission for an environmental review to take notice and to anticipate a more comprehensive and robust level of scrutiny. The follow-on implications of the decision, while not entirely known, could cause the Commission to take an in-depth look at industry activities—such as those related to natural gas production and processing—that may not upon first glance appear to be part of the proposed project under review.

In Delaware Riverkeeper, the court found that the FERC had failed to adequately perform a segmentation and cumulative impacts analysis under NEPA. The court restated the rule concerning segmentation, explaining that "[a]n agency impermissibly 'segments' NEPA review when it divides connected, cumulative, or similar federal actions into separate projects and thereby fails to address the true scope and impact of the activities that should be under consideration." The court rejected the FERC's segmentation analysis as flawed, noting that the FERC is obligated to consider all "'connected actions,' 'cumulative actions,' and 'similar actions,'" as required by the NEPA regulations.

The court then shifted its focus to the FERC's cumulative impacts analysis, the purpose of which is to analyze "the impact on the environment which results from the incremental impact of the action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regardless of what agency (Federal or non-Federal) or person undertakes such other actions. Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time." In the court's view, the FERC's cumulative impacts analysis did not recognize the Northeast Project, along with the three other projects on that same leg of pipeline, as "other actions – past, present, and proposed, and reasonably foreseeable." Accordingly, the court remanded Tennessee Gas back to the FERC for further consideration. [Colored & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: FERC has similarly disregarded the cumulative impacts of other connected pipelines and LNG projects in Passamaquoddy Bay.