Mother's March

The Mother's March Against LNG was held recently in Astoria.

MOTHERS MARCH WARNS AGAINST THE LNG "GORILLA"

Grannies of the Columbia River Estuary "evicted" Northern Star Natural Gas from its downtown Astoria office Sunday afternoon during the Mothers March Against LNG (liquefied natural gas). A large crowd of children and adults cheered the eviction proclamation read on their behalf by SANDRA DAVIS and MARJIE CASTLE, both of Longview. Northern Star wants to build an LNG terminal on a 420-acre site at Bradwood, about 38 miles upriver from Astoria. Oregon LNG, formerly Calpine, has plans for an LNG site in Warrenton. Marchers ignored the heavy rain as they marched peacefully through town and passed out NO LNG brochures to passersby.

"I’m not gonna give up!" VONDA BROCK vowed. The Longview grandmother was one of five area women who women spoke at the end of the march at the AVA Gallery. She’s given up "chasing butterflies" so she can work against the proposed LNG site at Bradwood. Brock described Northern Star’s plan to use eminent
domain to take land that’s been in her family for five generations for an LNG pipeline. She held up a yardstick to show the 36" diameter of the high-pressure pipeline that would convey the liquefied gas through Oregon to California.

DONNA QUINN said that tourism now employs some 5400 people and generates $106.8 million in Clatsop County. LNG will be "killing the goose that lays the golden egg of sustainable tourism." Quinn travels around the country representing Astoria’s Cannery Pier Hotel and said she’s learned that potential visitors want to visit the north coast for its scenic beauty, accessibility, and safety. All those are threatened by what she called the LNG "gorilla on the doorstep" scaring everyone away.

CAROL CARVER raised her children on Puget Island and always dreamed of grandchildren playing on the beach with her. She told the marchers that now she dreads the possibility of two or three 120-foot high LNG tanks directly across the river from her home. She said that scientists report that a vapor cloud from the Bradwood site could envelop her home and the southern part of Puget Island. The unscented vapor cloud could be ignited by lighting a cigarette or by a spark from a boat engine, producing second degree burns with 30 seconds of exposure.

"How could 400 kids be evacuated?" Brownsmead resident and Astor Elementary School teacher DEBBIE TWOMBLY said she’s been worrying about the 1-mile vapor burn hazard zone since researching LNG. She showed the crowd a stack of scientific and government documents that identify LNG hazards. She reminisced about growing up along the Nehalem River and then playing with her own children on the beach at Bradwood and said her students are already studying ships and tides because the school is so close to the Columbia. KRISTEN LEE urged everyone to contact their legislators and the Clatsop County Commissioners and to stay active in opposing LNG on the Columbia.

The children’s winner for the best NO LNG hat was CELIA GALE. BECCA SUTTON won the prize for the best adult’s hat. The Mothers March was featured on Portland’s Channels 2 and 6 on their Sunday night newscasts. Columbia RiverKeeper, the Columbia River Business Alliance, and the Columbia River Clean Energy Coalition were sponsors of the March.