noLNG

Legslative Alert! Proposal: States agreement to be required for siting LNG sites.

Legislation to Give States Final Decision on LNG Terminal Sites Has Been Introduced In Both The House and Senate!

House Bill - 2042  was sent to the House committee on Energy and Commerce last month, at the same time as Senate Bill 1174 was sent to the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources committee. The text of the bills seem to be the same, which always simplifies getting things passed.

Here's the relevant text of the bill:
 

       `(e) Siting, Construction, Expansion, and Operation of LNG Terminals-

            `(1) AUTHORITY-

                  `(A) IN GENERAL- Subject to subparagraph (B), the Commission shall approve or deny an application for the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of an LNG terminal.

                  `(B) STATE CONCURRENCE REQUIRED- The Commission shall not approve or deny an application under subparagraph (A) without the express concurrence of each State affected by the application.';

Please let our Federal Senators and Representatives know we support these bills - House Bill - 2042  / Senate Bill 1174

United States Congress

Senator Maria Cantwell (D)
via her web site 
717 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-3441
202-228-0514 (fax)
  or
Marshall House
1313 Officer's Row
Vancouver, WA 98661
888-648-7328
360-696-7838
360-696-7844 (fax)

Senator Patty Murray (D)
via her web site 
US Senator
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-2621
202-224-0238 (fax)
  or
Marshall House
1323 Officer's Row
Vancouver, WA  98661
360-696-7797
360-696-7798 (fax)

Representative Brian Baird (D - 3rd Cong. Dist)
via his web site   
1421 Longworth House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
202-225-3536
202-225-3478 (fax)
  or
O.O. Howard House
120 Union Ave., Ste 105
Olympia, WA 98501       
360-352-9768                
360-352-9241 (fax)
  or   
750 Anderson St. Ste. B
Vancouver, WA 98661            
360-695-6292
360-695-6197 (fax)

Astoria: Mothers march against LNG - May 20

Mothers March against LNG

Daughters, Grandmothers and Families too!

A Family friendly event!

Hear the mothers of Oregon and Washington talk about what the LNG re-gasification plant, tankers, and pipelines mean to our families and communities.

Save the date: Sunday, May 20th 1:00 pm 
Gather at the Blue Scorcher Café at 15th & Exchange Astoria.   

Plan to bring your entire family or a carload of friends & neighbors.

Stay tuned for more details.

Download a PDF of the flyer for the Mothers March against LNG

Communities Stand up For Clean Energy on West Coast-wide Day of Action

On Saturday, October 14, West Coast communities from Tijuana, Mexico to Washington State will hold simultaneous demonstrations calling for clean energy. Each of the communities is near one or more proposed import terminals to bring Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) into the West Coast for the first time in history. On October 14, these communities will stand together to reject all LNG imports, and to call for a clean energy future instead.

“Opponents of LNG are often referred to as ‘nimbys,’ or people not wanting development in their backyard,” said Rory Cox, Program Director of Pacific Environment. “That’s a short-sighted assumption. LNG is a West Coast-wide, long-term investment into polluting fossil fuels that would be detrimental to communities here and around the world. There’s a better way, and these people will be out on October 14 to say what it is.”

Among the concerns of the community groups are:

• LNG terminals generate enormous amounts of greenhouse gases. For example, the total emissions from an LNG project proposed near Oxnard, CA will create about 25 million tons of greenhouse gases per year, or about the same as 4.3 million cars (taking into account the full life-cycle emissions of LNG.)
• LNG will displace clean energy efforts by flooding the energy market with fossil fuels, which the region’s utilities will be committed to with contracts of 10 years or more.
• Reliance on LNG will lead to energy instability. The Russian Government just suspended construction of a major LNG export project on Sakhalin Island, while the Indonesian Government just announced it was reducing LNG exports to Japan by 50 percent, because it’s needed in Indonesia. Meanwhile, current North American natural gas suppliers are reporting record storage rates.
• LNG terminals and their affiliated pipelines are highly dangerous, and the projects will emit tons of asthma-causing pollutants into the air.

Events will be held in the following communities:

Longview, Washington: March across the Lewis and Clark Bridge with signs and banners. Picnic and discussion afterwards.11 AM. Participants will assemble on the Oregon side of the bridge.

North Bend (Coos Bay), Oregon: No Gasification without Representation. Rally and Tea Party. Speech by Pacific Green Party candidate for Governor Joe Keating. 10 AM, Simpson Park.

Malibu, California: Drive out LNG. Carpool cavalcade to the rally in Oxnard (see below). Participants will decorate their most fuel efficient cars. 9 AM, Malibu Civic Center Parking Lot.

Oxnard, California: Rally to Protect Our Coast. Speeches and rally. Special children’s area with games and crafts. 11 AM, Plaza Park, 5th and C Street. 

Tijuana, Mexico: Energy in Baja California – Road to Independence or Ruin? Panel discussion. Invited speakers: Maria Ramos, Amazon Watch; Bill Powers Border Power Plant Working Group; Arturo Moreno, Greenpeace; Carla Garcia Zendejas, GTTF. 9 AM to 2 PM, Camara Nacional de Comercio

Further Background: California uses about as much natural gas as all other states west of the Rockies combined, and is widely considered to be the main market driving all of the West Coast LNG projects. According to multiple studies, California can dramatically reduce its consumption of natural gas and other fossil fuels by simply following through on the state’s renewable laws and initiatives. LNG threatens to derail these clean energy plans.

Repeated demands for the state to hold an evidentiary hearing or a needs assessment for LNG have been denied both by the California Public Utilities Commission and by the California Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee.

The Clean Energy Day of Action is being organized by the West Coast-wide coalition Ratepayers for Affordable Clean Energy, or RACE. Sponsoring organizations include Pacific Environment, No LNG Community Alliance (Oxnard), Border Power Plant Working Group, Citizens Against LNG (Coos Bay), Rivervision, Saviers Road Design Team (Oxnard), CAUSE (Coastal Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy), Friends of Living Oregon Waters, Southern Oregon Clean Energy Coalition, Local Power, and Umpqua Watersheds.

Rory Cox
California Program Director
Pacific Environment
311 California Street, Suite 650
San Francisco, CA 94104
Ph: 415.399.8850 x302
Fax: 415.399.8860
www.pacificenvironment.org
www.lngwatch.org

"Protecting the Living Environment of the Pacific Rim."

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.

Letters needed ASAP

Greetings all,

Wahkiakum Friends of the River encourages people who are concerned about the impact of LNG terminals on salmon habitat to write letters to the agencies named in Judge Redden's remand about salmon recovery. Letters should be sent as soon as possible and should be non confrontational, just urging that the agencies all continue to do the job they have been asked to do for salmon recovery, and mentioning that our concerns about LNG proposals impacting salmon recovery should be included in their reports to Judge Redden.

A sample letter to give you some ideas of what could be written is included below. Your letter should be written to all four addresses listed below the letter. Be sure to include the case number and docket number on your letter. This is a very important step in our efforts. Please take the time to write.

Click below for the sample letter and addresses.

Sample Letter

Re:      FERC Docket PF05-10
           CV-01-640 re Lead Case
           CV-05-23

To Whom This Concerns:

I am writing regarding a proposed LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) Terminal and Regasification Facility proposed for Bradwood Oregon, 0.4 miles from Puget Island in Washington State, at the upstream mouth of Clifton Channel in the Columbia River, at river mile 38.

Clifton Channel is the beginning of important shallow estuary habitat that extends more than 20 miles downstream on the Oregon side of the Columbia providing critical migration and rearing habitat for numerous salmon species listed under the Endangered Species Act.

To accommodate the immense size of LNG ships to dock  and for a turning basin, the Bradwood proposal by Northern Star LLC must dredge at the mouth of Clifton Channel. The project has yet to be approved and we hope it will not be. The dredging needed will threatened the needed habitat that Clifton Channel and its tidal flats and marshes provide for salmon. Dredging will increase the sediment carried into the channel, increase the flow through Clifton Channel and deepen the estuary which will lead over time to increased shoaling in the main channel of the River.

In light of Judge Reddens’ decision regarding NOAA and related agencies efforts to save salmon, I want to encourage you to examine all the ramification of dredging the mouth of Clifton Channel on the estuary, marshes, wetlands, wildlife reserves, and especially the habitat of the salmon. Whatever happens to this valuable rearing area will affect upstream also.

Sincerely,

(be sure to list your address)

Send your letter to each of the following:

J. William Mc Donald
Regional Director
US Dept of the Interior
Bureau of Reclamation
Pacific N.W. Regional Office
1150 N. Curtis Suite 100
Boise, Id 83706

NOAA Fisheries
Oregon Coast/Lower Columbia
Habitat Branch
Oregon State Habitat Office
525 N.E. Oregon St. #500
Portland, Oregon 97232

NOAA Fisheries
SW Washington Habitat Branch
Washington State Habitiat Office
510 Desmond Dr. S. E. #103
Lacey, Washington 98503

Col. Thomas O'Donovan
District Engineer
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Portland District
PO Box 2946
Portland, Oregon 97208

Wahkiakum Friends of the River meeting Monday

Wahkiakum Friends of the River Special Meeting
7pm, Monday October 24, 2005
St. James Family Center

PURPOSE: To review strategy for upcoming FERC / Coast Guard Meeting. Please come and help make sure that we use the meeting on Wednesday most effectively.

Federal government agency contact information

The Coast Guard and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are apparently both still accepting public comments on the proposed LNG project at Bradwood. It's not clear exactly when they will cut off the comment period so we encourage you to write soon.

(for contact data, click the "continue reading..." link below)

Comments may be submitted via physical mail, email, or fax and should include your name and address as well as the appropriate docket number.

Coast Guard
Docket No. CGD13-05-017
Lt. Shadrack Scheirman, Commanding Officer
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Portland
6767 N. Basin Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
Email: Shadrack.L.Scheirman@uscg.mil
Fax: (503) 240-2586
Voice: (503) 247-4015

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Docket No.  CP06-365-000
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First St. NE, Room 1A
Washington DC 20426
File comments electronically

If you are mailing physical letters, label one copy of your comments for the attention of Gas Branch 3, PJ11.3

Important meeting in Cathlamet Oct 26

Don't let them do this to our river!

That's not a very pretty picture is it? Well, that's what we could all be looking at if the LNG transfer terminal is built at Bradwood. Those tanks are shown at about the right relative size--unlike some other images we've seen--and it gives you a bit of an idea how huge they would be.  And that's without the 300 yard  long ship--you'll just have to imagine a ship the length of three football fields and over a dozen stories tall floating next to it. Come to think of it, that's not too far from the size of those three tanks.

Well, if you don't like that picture much, here's your chance to talk about it with the people who are tasked with listening to our concerns before deciding on the suitability of putting this unsightly, and dangerous, heavy industrial development right on our front doorstep. You can discuss the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas facility that would be placed just across the river from Cathlamet and Puget Island at Bradwood. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Coast Guard will be in Cathlamet to listen to your comments and answer your questions at 7 p.m. on Wednesday October 26th in the multi-purpose room at the Julius A. Wendt Elementary School.

The last Coast Guard/FERC meeting was in Oregon and, even though the ferry ran late so folks could attend, a number of Wahkiakum residents didn't get a chance to voice their concerns about the negative impact such a plant would have on our community. Fortunately, another meeting has finally been scheduled for this side of the river and we're hoping that everyone gets a chance to come and have their voices heard on this critical issue.

It is important that you come to this meeting—it is the only chance scheduled for residents of Wahkiakum County to be heard locally on the proposed LNG transfer terminal. If you are concerned about this potentially dangerous, heavy industrial development on the lower Columbia, and the impact on our way of life, please come and help us protect the river, and all the people who use it to work, fish, and play.

 A flyer about the meeting is available for download here. You are encouraged to print, post and distribute it (without any changes, please) to help make people aware of this meeting.

Hope to see you there!

Mark your calendars:
Coast Guard/FERC meeting with Wahkiakum County residents
7p.m. October 26th
multipurpose room
Julius A. Wendt Elementary School
265 South Third St.
Cathlamet, WA
map

Important Upoming Meetings

Two public meetings have been scheduled for late September. The first addresses pipeline safety issues while the second is a joint Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Coast Guard event with a broader range of topics to be discussed.

The pipeline meeting will take place in Longvew, but details are not known yet. We will post them here as soon as they become available. (see article referenced later for more...or less...clarity on the time of the meeting)

The FERC-Coast Guard meeting in Knappa in on the 29th at the High School and provides an opportunity for people to express their concerns and raise issues regarding the proposed LNG site and related ship traffic. The Coast Guard will focus on identifying safety issues around ships during transit and while docking. FERC, on the other hand, has an open agenda where pretty much everything is on the table.

If you wish to testify at this meeting, you must notify either the Coast Guard or FERC by September 22nd. The agencies are combining their lists of peole who want to speak at the meeting, so you only have to notify one agency.

The Coast Guard will also accept written comments until October 6. Please make sure that any written comments include the Docket No. CGD13-05-017, as well as your name and address. Comments may be submitted via physical mail, email, or fax to:

Lt. Shadrack Scheirman, Commanding Officer
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Portland
6767 N. Basin Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
Email: Shadrack.L.Scheirman@uscg.mil
Fax: (503) 240-2586
Voice: (503) 247-4015

The Daily Astorian has an article about the meeting at Knappa here and another about two Northern Star open houses--one on the day of each of these meetings--here. The one in Longview is at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 at the Cowlitz P.U.D. Building, 961 12th Ave. in Longview, WA, whether this is actually the pipeline safety meeting, an open house given by Northern Star, or both is somewhat unclear. The Knappa meeting is at 5:00 M, immediately preceeding the Coast Guard-FERC meeting.

Mark these dates:

September 29th, 7:00 PM
FERC-Coast Guard
Knappa High School
41535 Old Highway 30.
Knappa, OR

September 28th
Pipeline Safety Meeting
Cowlitz County PUD
961 12th Ave
Longview, WA

Contact your Representatives

We encourage you to contact your representatives -- they are the people representing you, so tell them what you think about each of the issues and problems with siting LNG facilities on the Columbia River.

When writing a letter, sending a fax, or sending email, be sure to explain your concerns as clearly and concisely as possible, and provide your name, address, phone number and email address (this helps them understand that your concerns are coming from one of their constituents).

Wahkiakum County Commissioners

Dan Cothren
cothrend@co.wahkiakum.wa.us
P.O. Box 586
Cathlamet, WA 98612
  or
46 Greenwood Rd.
Cathlamet, WA 98612
360-795-3040
360-795-0342 (fax)

Blair H. Brady

bradyb@co.wahkiakum.wa.us
P. O. Box 586

Cathlamet, WA. 98612

Phone (360) 795-8048

 

George Trott
trottg@co.wahkiakum.wa.us
P.O. Box 586
Cathlamet, WA 98612
360-795-8048
360-795-0342 (fax)

Washington State Legislature

Mark Doumit (D)  State Senator -19th Dist.
 

Brian Hatfield (D) Senator, (19th District)

239 John A. Cherberg Building

P. O. Box 40419

Olympia, WA. 98504-0419

hatfield.brian@leg.wa.gov

Phone (360) 786-7636

Dean Takko (D)  Rep. Pos. 1, 19th Dist.
Takko.dean@leg.wa.gov
P.O. Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
360-786-7806
360-786-1066 (fax)

Brian Blake (D)  Rep. Pos. 2, 19th Dist.
Blake.brian@leg.wa.gov
Box 40600
Olympia, WA 98504-0600
360-786-7870

Governor
Christine Gregoire
http://www.governor.wa.gov/contact/govemail.htm
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
360-902-4111
360-753-4110 (fax)

United States Congress

Senator Maria Cantwell (D)
http://cantwell.senate.gov/contact/index.html
717 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-3441
202-228-0514 (fax)
  or
Marshall House
1313 Officer's Row
Vancouver, WA 98661
888-648-7328
360-696-7838
360-696-7844 (fax)

Senator Patty Murray (D)
http://murray.senate.gov/email/
US Senator
173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202-224-2621
202-224-0238 (fax)
  or
Marshall House
1323 Officer's Row
Vancouver, WA  98661
360-696-7797
360-696-7798 (fax)

Representative Brian Baird (D - 3rd Cong. Dist)
http://www.house.gov/baird/IMA/email.shtml
1421 Longworth House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
202-225-3536
202-225-3478 (fax)
  or
O.O. Howard House
750 Anderson St. Ste. B
Vancouver, WA 98661
360-695-6292
360-695-6197 (fax)
or
120 Union Ave., Ste 105
Olympia, WA 98501
360-352-9768
360-352-9241 (fax)