noLNG

Upcoming events: Oct 4th and 14th

On Oct 4th, there will be an informative meeting with federal, state, & county legislators from Washington and Oregon at the LCC Auditorium in Longview, WA. The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM.  Current legislators and opponents in election races will be in attendance.  Topics to be addressed include the government’s use of eminent domain to benefit a private corporation as well as safety and environmental aspects of the proposed Bradwood project.

On Oct 14th, there will be a West Coast Day of Action Against LNG.  We are planning an event now. More details will be sent out soon.  On the 14th, we will be demonstrating along with others in Mexico, California, and Oregon.

Sad news re: Catherine Van Horn

On a sad note, Cathy Van Horn, who was the State's lead person overseeing the LNG issue for the State and the Oregon Department of Energy, passed away suddenly .  She leaves behind a husband and an eight year old daughter.  This is a tremendous loss.  She was very knowledgeable on the LNG issue and would have made sure things were thoroughly analysed. Although we did not always agree on issues, we respected and admired her honesty, integrity, and professionalism.

We will miss her.

Catherine L. Van Horn

July 25, 1961 - September 15, 2006

SALEM – Cathy's biggest joy was playing with and planning events for her daughter and the children at McKinley Elementary School. She had the gift of taking a grand vision and bringing it to life for everyone. In her "spare time", she loved to tend her garden and enjoyed more crafting hobbies than could be fit in this column. Cathy was very proud of her Cherokee and Creek Indian heritage, and of the many places she lived during her life, was probably closest to home in Hawaii, where she had a deep and wonderful bond with the Hawaiian people and their culture.

Cathy spent several years writing and editing for newspapers and magazines before returning to school for a Ph.D. in Communications at the University of Washington. She taught journalism as a college professor in Hawaii and Iowa, and most recently worked as an analyst for the Oregon Office of Energy.

Cathy is survived by her husband, Wayne Parker and daughter, Gillian both of Salem; brother, Scott of Sacramento; sister, Amy of Medford; stepfather, Jack Rowbotham of Wilsonville; and will be missed by more friends than she could have imagined.

Memories of Cathy can be shared at 3:30 p.m., Fri., Sept. 22, at Virgil T. Golden Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the McKinley Parent-Teacher Club.

The Passamaquoddy Bay study

The Passamaquoddy Bay study provides useful insights into the costs and effects upon areas around an LNG facility.

Sections of the Summary Q & A are illuminating. Excerpts follow:

In this study, the research group estimates "The cost of an Emergency Medical Services base for a host community has been estimated at $700,000. The local cost of public safety for LNG tanker arrivals and departures is estimated at $12,500 for every tanker... ...Communities without police boats will have to invest in them."

In the Passamaquoddy Bay study, the research group estimates "a 20-35% reduction in the value of properties right next to the site, and 10-25% reduction in the value of properties within a mile of the site, and a 5-15% reduction in the value of properties with two miles of the site."

The Summary Q & A also addresses the jobs question, but the outlook isn't encouraging "We estimate there will be approximately 8 jobs in administration, personnel, security, and maintenance available for local  residents at pay levels ranging from $30,000 to $40,000 a year (including benefits)...  ...This number of jobs provided by an LNG terminal does not take into account jobs lost in other sectors, such as fisheries and tourism."

"...we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

...or so Gary Coppedge says in this Daily News article about the Cowlitz County Council.

Cowlitz County officials are charged with reviewing environmental documents where they relate to the pipeline and plan to hire a consulting firm to do the work.

Ken Stone, who oversees the county's public works and building and planning departments, said Northern Star initially will front $20,000 for the consulting work and pay more if necessary.
Stone said the county is turning to an independent consultant because it doesn't have the staff to review the documents.

Gary Coppedge, Northern Star's vice president of development, said his company is "comfortable" with the arrangement. "I think it shows a good working relationship with the county," he said. "It's appropriate that we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

One has to wonder if Northern Star thinks they should be reimbursing all the counties and groups impacted by their proposal. If so, I believe there is a large, and growing, group of homeowners and business people who want to talk about their current expenses and future losses. Because examining every bit of information NS submits to FERC, attending meetings, hiring consultants is expensive. Staying up nights worrying about what might happen to our beautiful river, community, and way of life carries an incalculable cost...if this was a commercial, we might call it priceless.

Bradwood site visit Sept 12th

excerpted from The Daily Astorian

A public site visit of the proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas terminal location will be held Sept. 12.  Those interested in attending the site visit should meet at 11 a.m. on Clifton Road just past the intersection with U.S. Highway 30.

Representatives from Northern Star Natural Gas will be attending the visit along with engineers with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Office of Energy Projects.  The FERC engineers are touring the Bradwood site on Sept. 12, prior to a cryogenic design and technical conference Sept. 13 at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel in Portland.

The conference will not be open to the public because of the "nature of critical energy infrastructure information and security issues to be explored," according to a recent filing by FERC. However, people that have formally intervened in the Bradwood Landing LNG case may register to attend the conference by contacting Terry Turpin by phone at (202) 502-8558 or by e-mail at (terry.turpin@ferc.gov)

Please plan on attending this site tour if you can. It's important that we continue to show Northern Star that the people who live here do not want their heavy industrial site on our beautiful river. Wear your red t-shirts and buttons and help protect our treasured lower Columbia River.