noLNG

Sharpen your pencils.

Because not all carriers calling at the LNG terminal would be capable of limiting water intakes to only the starboard sea chest(s), NorthernStar should explain how it would prevent the taking offish from port side or keel sea chest openings. NorthernStar should identify any examples of similarly designed screening systems that have been constructed or operated. In addition, NorthernStar should describe available processes for technical review and certification (e.g., “approval in principal”) of its permeable curtain design by a standards developing organization or classification society.

Download the FERC notice to NorthernStar.  Download 20081230 20day notice

The Daily Astorian, Editorial.

Corruption wins at Clatsop County CH
Northern Star LLC seems to own a majority of commission votes
Once corruption creeps into an organization, it becomes an alternate center of gravity, sucking up the honest and enabling the dishonest.

Corruption typically is associated with money, but intellectual corruption is just as viral. Last week's revelation about the Clatsop County Commission's doing the bidding of Northern Star LLC was a stark reminder of how deeply a majority of commissioners have lost their way. They actually believe that doing Northern Star's work is more important than serving the county's citizens.

In a nutshell, commissioners withheld a letter from the state Department of Justice, because the Bradwood Landing people asked them not to release the county's response until Bradwood released its own finding. Thus the county's answer to the state Department of Justice is months old.

Former County Commissioner Helen Westbrook has asked the question of when commissioners decided to hide Clatsop County's response. Was that decision made in public? Or was it made in a private meeting that should have been public?

Interim County Manager Andy Anderson is fond of proclaiming that he's only a temporary employee, and he doesn't expect to make big decisions. But every time Anderson cooperates in the shenanigans of the tarnished let's-do-favors-for-Northern Star gang, he loses a bit of the integrity he had going into his interim job. One of former County Manager Scott Derickson's shortcomings was that he did not draw a moral boundary in public and tell the commission that it was straying into activities that looked bad and were unethical.

During the recent election, Joe Gamm wrote an article about campaign fund-raising by the two candidates for commission District 2, Patricia Roberts and Jim Scheller. Roberts' fund was striking for the size of its gifts and the purity of purpose represented by the donors. The great bulk of Roberts' money was from those who will benefit financially if the Bradwood LNG terminal is built. It is clear what those donors expected from Roberts.

If Roberts was being bought and paid for by Northern Star LLC, so apparently are her cohorts who have kept up a ridiculous charade that was exposed last week.

It has fallen to Commissioner Sam Patrick to speak the truth to commissioners who forgot the public trust. With Patrick leaving office, it will be important that the incumbent Commissioner John Raichl not be naive about what's going on. And Patrick's replacement Dirk Rohne will be an especially welcome new set of eyes and ears on the commission.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all.

From the Wahkiakum Friends Of the River.

 

EIA study confirms.

Gas Utility & Midstream - Operations and Strategy
Anti-LNG group uses EIA, state studies as ammunition against import terminals
December 24, 2008 3:01 PM ET
By Toni DeSalvo

New energy projections from federal and California agencies show "the LNG speculative bubble is over," according to San Francisco-based Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy.

The group, which is opposed to the construction of LNG import terminals on the U.S. West Coast, cited a recent report issued by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that said natural gas imports will decline from the current 16% to only 3% in 2030. The difference will be made up in increased domestic natural gas production, the EIA said in an early release to its 2009 Annual Energy Outlook. The full report will be available in early 2009.

Also, according to a staff presentation from the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission, the state's natural gas demand will remain flat until 2030. The only LNG import terminal currently serving California, the Costa Azul facility in Baja California, Mexico, will not receive "significant deliveries," the commissions said.

"These projections make clear that the West Coast does not need LNG," Rory Cox, California program director at Pacific Environment and coordinator for RACE, said in a Dec. 22 statement. "LNG was an inappropriate choice to begin with, and it remains so."

Dan Serres, conservation director at Columbia Riverkeeper, said the new projections are a game changer. "LNG is now off the table as a wise investment choice," Serres said. "The current LNG proposals are now just moving forward under nothing but their own momentum."

Clatsop County Commissioners don't get it!

 

 The Snowman does!

LNG firms struggle with investments in volatile market

Uchenna Izundu
International Editor

BARCELONA, Dec. 18 -- Gas companies are uncertain whether to make LNG investments as gas demand falls due to high prices and the economic downturn, speakers said at the CWC LNG summit in Barcelona.

More: http://www.ogj.com/display_article/348296/7/ONART/none/Trasp/1/LNG-firms-struggle-with-investments-in-volatile-market/

12/18/2008 12:42:00 PM

Wyden blasts plan to allow gas pipeline through Mount Hood National Forest The Daily Astorian U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has stepped in again in the liquefied natural gas controversy. He has written to U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell announcing his plan to fight a recently announced move that would allow construction of a 211-mile-long, 35-inch diameter pipeline through areas of Mount Hood National Forest. Wyden's letter was prompted by an announcement by the Forest Service that the Mount Hood National Forest intended to change its forest plan to accommodate the Palomar Gasline Transmission Project. The proposal would allow the pipeline to make up to 66 crossings of streams and rivers in the forest, including several rivers that have received or are proposed for Wild and Scenic River designation. More: http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=56856&SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398

Guest columb in The Daily Astorian.

12/17/2008 1:26:00 PM

Guest column: Will the commissioners undermine your vote? By Brett VandenHeuvel and Cheryl Johnson For The Daily Astorian On Oct.10, the Oregon Department of Justice sent a letter to Clatsop County, asking a very simple but important question. After the referendum prohibited LNG pipelines in areas zoned parks and open space, is the Bradwood pipeline compatible with local law? The keen interest by Department of Justice shows the importance of the referendum - state agencies cannot process Bradwood's permits unless the project meets local laws. The planning staff and county counsel decided the obvious answer is that a portion of the proposed Bradwood pipeline is not allowed after the referendum. But, the Commission, three months later, still refuses to give the state the courtesy of a response. The handful of "LNG-at-any-cost" commissioners do not like that the referendum stops Bradwood's free ride. After the planning staff requested to send an honest response to the state, several Commissioners revealed whose bidding they're doing, and it's not the voters of Clatsop County. At the last hearing, the first question from the Commission was: Commissioner Jeff Hazen: "Did you talk with Bradwood about this?" Planning Director: "I talked with our legal counsel, Andy Jordan, about this. Yes." Commissioner Ann Samuelson: "But not, but not Bradwood Landing." It's not clear why the county would need Bradwood's permission to respond to the Department of Justice. One thing is clear: the Commission's loyalty to Bradwood trumps their promise to represent the voters. The Commission's attempt to hide the effect of the referendum, after an astounding 67 percent rejected LNG pipelines from protected areas, is somewhere between unprofessional and devious. Citizens were told that the commission would include the long overdue response letter in the Dec. 17 meeting, but it is not on the agenda. County residents should attend the meeting to see which commissioner has the dignity to uphold the law, and which will try to undermine your vote. Brett VandenHeuvel is executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper and Cheryl Johnson of Astoria is a longtime LNG opponent

 Palomar files formal papers to start controversial gas line

by Ted Sickinger, The Oregonian

Thursday December 11, 2008, 8:30 PM

It's official: Palomar Gas Transmission LLC filed its formal federal application Thursday to build a 217-mile natural gas pipeline from a liquefied natural gas terminal on the lower Columbia River to an interstate gas hub in central Oregon.

The controversial $800 million project is a joint venture of Northwest Natural Gas Co. and TransCanada Corp. The companies hope the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will issue a draft environmental impact statement for the project in six to eight months and win final approval in late 2009. They hope to complete construction in November 2011.

"The land board has full authority to deny the state land lease for LNG," said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper. "The board's statement today ... indicates that the board recognizes that we do not need more foreign fossil fuels."

-- Ted Sickinger:

tedsickinger@news.oregonian.com

Complete article:
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/12/palomar_files_formal_papers_to.html

 

LNG Foe earns state role

12/9/2008 11:33:00 AM

Riverkeeper leader hired by new attorney general By CASSANDRA PROFITA The Daily Astorian Liquefied natural gas opponents got a boost Monday when Oregon's Attorney General-elect John Kroger announced his appointment of Columbia Riverkeeper Executive Director Brent Foster to his executive team at the Oregon Department of Justice.  More: http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=395&ArticleID=56599