noLNG

Status check from Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community

Margie Castle of Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community sent us this summary of where things stand, for which we thank her very much!

Much is happening that needs to come to your attention. I'll set it up as bullets and hit the highlights.

• NorthernStar is on a fast track of submitting reports, comments and information to the FERC. It is in your best interest to refer back to previous emails and find the one sent on how to access information on the FERC website. It is also in your best interest to send in letters of comment. If you don't have the directions for navigating the FERC, let me know. The docket number is CP06-365.
  State and Federal agencies are holding NorthernStar accountable and not letting them slip through any of the required permitting processes.
  The channel deepening project was completed and accepted using information on CURRENT ship traffic and does not include increased ship traffic or new and bigger types of ships. This seriously impacts NorthernStar. The NorthernStar proposal increases traffic by 2 to 3 ships per week (104 to 156 ships per year) with a size range of 900 to 1200 feet in length. Not acceptable under the current project recommendations.
  NorthernStar has yet to file a full response to the Coast Guard letter dated July 24, 2006. This is the letter that clearly states delays of all other ship traffic will occur.
  NorthernStar is visiting public agencies (i.e. Land Conservation) asking what mitigation projects they are currently working on and offering to foot the bill or pledge money toward the project. This is their way of buying acceptance of their destroying our land, environment and way of life. All pledges have the big string attached of "if they get their permits"
  After putting our names, addresses and tax lot descriptions out to the public on the FERC website and in public meetings/open houses during the pre-filing process, NorthernStar has now decided our privacy needs to be protected and we are only to know if the final route is, indeed, on our property if we can identify it by the tax description. If you want to know if your property IS on the final route, let me know and I'll connect you with our people who have the information.
  We now have copies of the program run on the History Channel concerning the danger of LNG. Let me know if you would like to arrange for a showing with friends in your home. We cannot show it in a public venue due to copyright laws.
  We also have a copy of a talk given by Loretta Lynch, past Director of the California Public Utilities Commission under Gray Davis. We showed it last Thursday evening  at our public meeting and are willing to show it again. She clearly lays out the lack of need for an LNG terminal anywhere on the Pacific coast. Her presentation is worth watching. Loretta went with a group of us to meet with Kulongoski's chief of staff, Peter Cogswell.
• The Thursday, December 7th meeting was well attended. Thank you to Howard Meharg and Jonathan Fant , candidates in the  recent primary/general elections. They were the only ones to answer our challenge to elected officials. Gentlemen, you will be remembered if you run again. Both pledged continued support. Mr. Fant offered suggestions and connections to other organizations. Dean Takko did respond he was unable to attend.
• NorthernStar has named their project "Bradwood Landing" because of the warm, fuzzy feeling that name evokes in the general public. It creates a mental picture of serene woods, gently flowing waters and the sounds of nature ever present. Don't let it fool you. The name of the location is Bradwood, Oregon. We need to make sure the public doesn't buy into the psycho-babble. Call it Bradwood or NorthernStar's proposal, not Bradwood Landing.
• NorthernStar submitted a letter of comment that was about 264 pages in length. Included were copies of letters in support of their project. Most of them were form letters signed by union members from southern Oregon with a few sprinkled in from our region. Please respond by posting your return comments against the project.
• Elected officials are still not taking a stance even with the election over. Several received large donations from unions and the River Pilots Association. Please remind your officials who really  elected them. Remember, we aren't against the unions or jobs, just against this project, eminent domain and the loss of our personal rights. Continued  calls, letters, and emails are needed to our elected officials. Keep them up to date. Pressure them to take a stand, one way or the other. If they stand against us, at least we'll know.
• Take pictures of your land where the pipeline is expected to go. Due to the heavy rains this year, much sliding is taking place. Have pictoral evidence to support your stance against the project--this may save your property.
• Media Blitz--what to do with all the glitz you've received in the mail. Your options are:
  
  • Trash it Put a 39 cent stamp on it and return to sender. You may write on the opposite side your opinion. The post office will NOT deliver if you just write return to sender. You need the stamp due to bulk mailing rules.
  • Put all of it in a large envelope along with your letter to your Senator/Representative/Mayor/Commissioner/whoever and mail it all to them
  • Put it in a large envelope along with your letter and mail it all back to NorthernStar.
  • Put it in a large envelope along with your letter to the newspaper/editor and mail to your local paper The object being to alert the above that we are not impressed nor sold on NorthernStar.

• As a group, it is our goal to mount a media campaign against NStar. However, the cost of a single running of a full-page, black and white ad is over $2000 so we are looking at several avenues to get the word out to the public. Some ideas include several smaller ads over time; billboards; access to reader boards at area businesses (do you know someone willing to take a public stance and put the message up?); and signage on private property along high traffic routes.  We raised a little over $400 Thursday night, which is a good start. Please send in your donation to:

LCSC
4503 Ocean Beach Hwy
Suite 108 PMB#531
Longview,WA 98632

• There are 13+ proposed energy related projects from Kalama, Washington to Warrenton, Oregon including a possible new pipeline connecting the Mist caverns to the TransCanadian Pipeline to California. Add to that the push for an  LNG terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon. All these projects are presented to the general public as necessary to meet the energy needs of the Pacific Northwest. How much energy do we need? How big a population do they think we have? How stupid do they think we are? Think about it--we've been shipping excess power out  of our region for years.  Therefore, what is the true stand for eminent domain when the benefit is not for our region? Do we have a legal leg to stand on in regards to this issue? Don't let them sell us another Trojan bill of goods. These are excellent points to raise in your letters.

All of us serving you through Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community wish you and your loved ones restful relaxing times with friends and loved ones through the holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh and the best in the New Year!

and now, a word from Bob and Thea Pyle...

Robert and Thea Pyle, who know lots more than a thing or two about the local ecosystem, share a letter they wrote to the Wahkiakum Eagle:

Gray's River, WA 98621
December 3, 2006

Wahkiakum County Eagle
To the Editor:

In recent days,  we have all been barraged with a load of pretty propaganda from Northern Star company--kindly letters and bright brochures in our mailboxes, full-page ads in the papers, promo pieces that those same papers published as "news."  Originating from "Bradwood Landing," which sounds more like a park or an upscale community than a heavy industrial site, these slick puff-pieces promise varying amounts of blood-money for salmon enhancement ($40 million in the brochure, $59 million in the press release), spread over many years.  They paint Northern Star as God's Gift to Fish.

We have some questions for "Si" Garrett and his hench-people:  Just how stupid do you think we are?  Do you take us for hicks from the sticks who have never seen the seductive products of public relations mercenaries?  Do you suppose we've never been fooled before by commercial flak that represents a sow's ear as a silk purse?  (But that old saying is unfortunate in this case, unfairly associating an honest animal, the pig, with these slinky moneybags.)  Did you think we wouldn't notice that these mendacious documents never even mention  "liquefied natural gas?"   And do you think we haven't heard the one  about the high-class woman who accepts a million-dollar proposition, and then takes offense at a second offer of ten bucks?  "What do you think I am?" she asks, indignantly.  "We've already established that, Madame," goes the punch line.  "Now we're just haggling over the price."

We hope everyone who read "Bradwood Landing and the Legacy of Salmon"  feels as patronized, offended, and disgusted as we do.   We hope when  everyone looks at the pretty pictures (including the comically out-of-proportion Puget Island, making it look far away from harm's way), they will see the destruction of the night sky, hear the end of the river's silence, and sense the jeopardy in which these "neighbors"  will place us if they get their way.  "Our Commitment is Total,""  reads the oily text.  That much is true: total ruination of the Lower Columbia.  If we really believed that their "guiding principal" is to "nurture and safeguard the surrounding environment" and that they will "deliver a net improvement in the Lower Columbia ecosystem," we would fully justify their faith in our stupidity.  Don't be sucked in, folks: a deal with these people is a deal with the devil.

Robert and Thea Pyle
Gray's River

LNG Theater courtesy of CoastWatch

While perusing the 'net, I stumbled upon this little slice of "LNG theater"

Agent Bob: In the next phase we'll begin to pressure those who haven't sold out yet and push the feds for more control. We will make a special effort to ignore local concerns unofficially, but of course our public relations people will be trained to sound concerned. Our consultant says we should use the word "partner" a lot in our public discussions.

CEO: Very good! Now we know we won't get much grief from the port, or the cities. They can't wait for us to come in and take away attention from them for a while. We'll bypass the little county in Oregon completely with something about National Security...We'll just make that part up as we go along. But what about that little town in Washington that's in the blast zone? what was it?

Agent Bob: Cath, or Cathy something? Yes, well that's a fairly easy matter since legally they have no standing in this matter, but we don't want to tip our hand too soon so I would suggest a simple cash buy-out just in case their Congressman wakes up about this at some point.

CEO: How much?

Agent Bob: Oh, half million should do it over a few years as long as we give it to a well established and beloved local charity with a strong local board of people who will keep others in line.

CEO: Ah heck, make it a million! As long as we can write it all off? Let's proceed.

The rest of the post is here and it's bound to make you smile--before you shake your head in angry/sad agreement.

Contacting local newspapers

There's another PR campaign coming from Northern Star so to make it easy for you all to write your letters to the editor (and you have been great about doing so!) here's contact information for a number of local newspapers. If there's one missing, please add it in the comments and I'll move a copy of it up into the mail post here.

Here's all the info you will need for contacting some local newspapers:

The Columbian:
Limit letters to 200 words and allow 30 days between submissions. Include name, address and daytime phone number for verification; only the name and home town will be published.
     email: preferred. letters@columbian.com
     fax: 360-699-6033
     mail:  Letters from Readers, The Columbian, PO Box 180, Vancouver, WA  98666

The Oregonian:
Limit letters to 150 words, Include your full address and daytime phone number, for verification only. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
     email:letters@news.oregonian.com
     fax: 503.294.4193
     mail: Letters to the editor, The Oregonian, 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201

Daily Astorian:
     fax: 503.325.6573
     mail: Daily Astorian Editor, PO Box 210, 949 Exchange St., Astoria, OR 97103

The Wahkiakum Eagle: 
     fax: 360.795.3983
     mail: The Wahkiakum Eagle, PO Box 368, Cathlamet, WA 98612

The Chinook Observer:
     email: editor@chinookobserver.com
     fax: 360.642.8105
     mail: Chinook Observe, PO Box 427, Long Beach, WA 98631

The Daily News:
Limit of 175 words, and one letter per person, per calendar month. Must include first and last name, zip code as well as day and evening phone numbers. Letter must be written exclusively to The Daily News, so you might have to edit a slightly customized version of your mail for them.
     email: The Daily News uses a web form instead if email. Submit letters here.
     fax: 360.577.2538
     mail: 770 11th Avenue, P.O. Box 189, Longview, WA 98632

Northern Star buys a piece of Svensen Island

Northern Star has taken out all sorts of pretty ads to trumpet an agreement to purchase the western portion of Svensen Island for use in salmon mitigation. They also have options to buy 80 percent (which must be the rest) of the island. The salmon mitigation plan calls for removing dikes to flood the island, creating "shallow marshes where migrating salmon could rest away from the Columbia's main channel." Will this work? (and do salmon rest areas have free coffee and cookies like the ones on the highway?) Seriously, do salmon rest in marshes? Where's a wildlife biologist when you need one?

Northern Star is promising $7 million between the start of terminal construction and 2010, when the proposed plant would open. After that, they promise $1.3 million a year as long as the facility operates. But what happens if they have negative impact on the salmon during construction (or operation) and then abandon the project for economic or other reason? (Not that I think the Columbia River would end up with an idle energy project waiting to be demolished. Random fact: there's 4,700 tons of nuclear waste sitting at Trojan, at least The Daily News says there is. Did you know that? I sure didn't. But I digress...back to the current proposed energy plant.)

One problem with this plan is that Columbia Land Trust had already raised funds to buy the island and was talking with the owners about a conservation purchase when Northern Star stepped in. While the two offers may appear similar on the surface, they aren't necessarily the same thing. After all, one of these groups is in the conservation business and one is not.

I do have to give it to Northern Star, they got some good soundbites out there:

They say they undertook a "rebooting of the project to make sure it was in tune with regional values" Now rebooting sounds good and all that: technical, modern...and meaningless. One has to wonder how much rebooting can be done in the ten days between when they announced their plans would damage the salmon and now. I'm also not sure what they mean about regional values, although they are calling the salmon "ours" in those full page ads. 

They say they have "virtually eliminated" the threat to fish from engine cooling and ballast water intake and discharge. (so why the list? what about the threats that aren't related to engine cooling and ballast? or are we supposed to believe that other than that, salmon are safe?)

They say they have found "a very elegant solution" to the problem of killing salmon during engine cooling and ballast uptake: screens. Water will come in through these "special" (meaning small, I guess) screens and be used to cool the engine, then used for ballast. This will help with the issue of discharging heated water into the river. It still means they are taking huge amounts of water for ballast and the rest of their proposed operation isn't exactly good for salmon. But I suppose the salmon have their rest area.

btw, this elegant solution: brand new. Untested. (sounds like it's still on the drawing board) Not in use in the industry. No ships have it. But Northern Star promises they'll pay for installation on ships.  (No surprise there, they are promising money to lots of folks these days.)

There are three articles listed here, each of them with a slightly different take on the island deal. It's interesting to read all of them and see how the approach varies at different sources. The article at the Astorian has the most detail.

Island purchase shines for Northern Star   (Daily Astorian)

Proposed gas terminal vows salmon protections   (The Columbian)

Company offers $50 million to help salmon in exchange for terminal   (Coos Bay World)

Since you read this far, tell us what you think. This site is more interesting and useful when everyone plays along.

LNG veil of secrecy on security to be lifted 'early next year'

article from the Daily Astorian

 

A report detailing safety and security issues connected to the proposed Bradwood liquefied natural gas project will be released to the public, Clatsop County announced Thursday.

County Administrator Scott Derickson said the U.S. Coast Guard and Northern Star Natural Gas, the project developer, have agreed to make available the Coast Guard's review and response to the company's Waterway Suitability Assessment.

The assessment will address at least some safety and security issues, including tanker traffic, although it will also have information redacted for security purposes. It should be interesting to see what actually makes it through the review process.

But here's the thing I really love. Remember this article from last week? Shipping impacts left out of LNG report which said:

"...the company contended large vessel traffic on the Columbia River had already been assessed by other projects such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Channel Improvement Project, which considered the impacts of deepening the shipping channel for vessels traveling upriver. Northern Star did not feel the need to do another review based on the impacts of LNG vessels."

Reread that last sentence. Then read this quote from Gary Coppedge in today's article:

"All our studies show there will be no substantial impact, aside from another ship on the river..."

Ummm, Gary, what studies? Didn't you just say you didn't do any studies? Although to be fair, I guess if you didn't do any studies, it makes it awfully easy to say that the ones you did didn't show anything negative. Or something.

ADDENDUM:

Oh wait! There another thing. While perusing the Partner list at Northern Star's site, I noticed that the company listed as providing "river transit analysis" is Parsons Brinckerhoff. That would be the same Parsons Brinckerhoff that was the project manager on Boston's Big Dig project that collapsed last summer, killing Milena Del Valle. The same company that is now being sued for gross negligence and breach of contract and being investigated on criminal charges in relation to Del Valle's death.

This is a nice piece on the pending lawsuit in the Boston Herald:

State Attorney General Tom Reilly, whose term is up at the end of the year, said the lawsuit being filed in state court is based on the belief that the project managers knew early on about problems with the epoxy bolt system used to secure 4,500-pound cement ceiling panels but didn’t take steps to fix it.

"The clock was ticking. The fuse was lit. It was just a matter of time until this tragedy occurred," Reilly said.

    The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for repairs, loss of tunnel use and toll revenue and other economic factors. ... A separate criminal investigation is ongoing. Evidence is now being presented to a grand jury that will decide whether criminal charges up to manslaughter will be brought, Reilly said.

    "I can tell you this: What I saw was a crime. ... It will be up to the grand jury to decide whether it is," Reilly said Monday in announcing the state lawsuit.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling safer already.