noLNG

Knappa LNG meeting heats up

Opponents come out in force at KHS to voice opinions; DEQ session highlights four permits

By CASSANDRA PROFITA
The Daily Astorian

KNAPPA - Liquefied natural gas opponents were out in force Wednesday for a public information meeting on the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas project's air and water quality permit applications.

Around 200 people packed into the Knappa High School gymnasium along with a panel of state officials poised to answer questions and take public comments.

The session was organized by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in response to four permit applications the agency has received from Bradwood project developer NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc. of Houston.
More: http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=68326

DEQ Public Information Meeting

Wednesday  March 3rd at 6pm 

Knappa High School Gymnasium

41535 Old Hwy 30

(Knappa is about 20 miles east of Astoria on Hwy 30.

 

Letter: Save the river

By Peter Huhtala.

It may not be time to celebrate victory in our struggle to stop liquefied natural gas. But I gave a cheer on behalf of the people of the Lower Columbia when I heard that Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality refused to bow to NorthernStar's demands. ("Bradwood dealt triple permit blow," The Daily Astorian, Feb. 23).

The state agency insists that sound science form the basis of any permit that might be issued to the LNG company. And they won't be rushed.

The state wants proof that this unprecedented proposal would not harm salmon, and that other environmental and economic functions of the river will be protected. This is the right attitude.

Northern Star previously applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where they were handed a permit that was conditioned upon the company deserving it at some future date. This was absurd.
More: http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&ArticleID=68224

Clatsop County-Re-issue of the Bradwood Landing project Information Meeting

Comment period ends March 17, 2010, 5pm.

Information Meeting:

Date: March 3, 2010

Time: starts at 6 pm

Place: Knappa High School Gymnasium

Address: 41535 Old Highway 30, Astoria, Oregon  97103

Pipeline secrets must end

Landowners in several Oregon counties are already dealing with the misleading statements and behaviors of the Palomar Pipeline surveyors and promoters, and the very real threat of eminent domain to take their property for the company's profits. Now, we in Clatsop County are getting the Palomar treatment.

Palomar's Henry Morse made an outrageous and blatantly false claim in The Daily Astorian's coverage of Palomar's closed meetings with county commissioners ("Rohne boycotts pipeline briefings," Jan. 14). Morse stated, "The pipeline is in no way dependent on Bradwood. We'll continue to build the east pipe." I cannot believe that Morse has the gall to make this claim publicly and to contradict his own company's stated intention.

Complete letter: http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&ArticleID=67476&TM=60222.57

Clandestine meetings

Should we be surprised by the actions of back-door politicians who would rather work in the dark instead of in the light of public scrutiny? Yes, we should. How sad that I am not surprised by our county commissioners once again giving all of us the impression of being in bed with the liquefied natural gas local lobby, i.e. Palomar Project Manager Henry Morse ("Rohne got it right," The Daily Astorian, Jan. 19).

Complete letter: http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&ArticleID=67309&TM=70055.3

Rohne got it right (Editorial)

Corporate special pleaders should come through the front door
Dirk Rohne     got it right.

Jeff Hazen, Patricia Roberts, John Raichl and Robert Mushen got it wrong.

The question was whether Clatsop County commissioners should meet privately with representatives of Palomar Gas Transmission, the backers of a pipeline project that is related to proposals for liquefied natural gas terminals. Palomar executives sought private conversation with commissioners, so they could skirt Oregon's public meetings law.

Explaining his refusal to meet privately, Rohne cited the confusion and lack of public discussion prior to the Port of Astoria's signing a lease with the Calpine Corp., which aims to put an LNG terminal on public land on the Skipanon River. After then-Port Executive Director Peter Gearin flew to California to meet with Calpine officials, Port commissioners had private conversations with Calpine. The travesty of the Calpine lease is that Gearin and Port commissioners made a decision of enormous public consequence without a semblance of a full public discussion.

Palomar officials say they sought private meetings with county commissioners, because they weren't seeking approval. Perhaps not then. But eventually Palomar will want something from the commissioners. Anyone who doesn't get that is a bit naive.

The four commissioners who met with Palomar misunderstand their role. No doubt, their egos were flattered by having a private audience with Palomar Project Manager Henry Morse. But the commissioners don't work for Morse; they work for the public. Over the past three years, county commissioners have mistakenly acted as though they work for Northern Star LLC, developer of the Bradwood LNG terminal, not for the public. That is a common malady among politicians. You see it in Washington, D.C., where the banking lobby and the insurance lobby dictate the limits of congressional action.

The Bradwood LNG project carries significant implications for salmon in the Columbia River. Rohne is the only commissioner who seems to understand that.

The basic premise that voters should insist upon is that corporate interests should come through the courthouse front door, not the back door.

http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=392&ArticleID=67202

LTE More on recalls

 It has often been said here, but is not true, that the recall process should rightfully be reserved for politicians who commit outright crimes. There is another process in place for that: We arrest them, prosecute them and clap them in the hoosegow. A U.S. congressman from Louisiana, caught with $90,000 in his freezer, was sent up the river just last month, as a case in point.

Recall is entirely appropriate, and very well precedented, for politicians whose offenses may not be prosecutable but are egregious, like habitual lying, gross incompetence, self-serving hypocrisy and betrayal of the public trust - not to mention embarrassing sexual shenanigans. We have now successfully recalled two out of four Clatsop County Commissioners who sold us down the river to the carpet-bagger liquefied natural gas speculators.

I, for one, am ready for the next recall, if the surviving and replacement commissioners do not reverse their course on LNG, and start doing a better job of serving the long-term interests of this unique, fragile region and the people in it whom they are supposed to represent.

JOSEPH WEBB
Astoria
http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&ArticleID=67145&TM=55209.96

State board rejects LNG foes' challenge

The Daily Astorian

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals has rejected a challenge filed by Bradwood Landing LNG opponents, clearing the way for the board to rule on the two land-use issues that were remanded back to the county.

Project opponents filed an objection with LUBA arguing that the county improperly limited public input during last summer's Bradwood remand hearing by redacting parts of some written testimony.

Now that the appeal has been rejected, LUBA can move on to deciding whether the county properly addressed two flaws in the original approval of Bradwood Landing's land-use application.

While LUBA rejected opponents' objection to the redaction of evidence, the panel, in the same ruling, also turned down an objection filed by NorthernStar claiming that some new evidence was allowed into the record of the remand hearing, in violation of the board of commissioner' pre-hearing policy.
Complete article: http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=66826

LTE The Daily Astorian

Letter: Driven by heart
It is amazing how desperate NorthernStar and the other liquefied natural gas advocates have become as they resort to mudslinging to thwart the tide of public opinion that is turning against them. Filing an IRS complaint against Columbia Riverkeeper    , along with their accusations that LNG opponents are "anarchists" and "extremists," is their slimy attempt to deflect attention from the mounting evidence that the proposed LNG projects are in deep trouble. The most recent example of their failing is outlined by the National Marine Fisheries Service listing more than 150 problems with Bradwood Landing.

The Texas LNG promoters do not do this dirty work themselves, they have millions of dollars to work with, so they hire public relations firms to carefully craft their message and to hide the facts. They persuade pseudo-journalists to invade and disrupt community meetings and they throw a lot of money around to buy influence. Energy Action Northwest (a front for the LNG companies), cannot deny the science and they cannot refute the facts, so they are resorting to personal attacks.

And who are they mounting this big smear campaign against? Local citizens who have realized just how harmful LNG will be for our local economy, the river and the salmon. Small groups of citizens, who formed on both sides of the river, realized in order to stand up to NorthernStar and the LNG's millions, we would need additional resources. As local citizens, we invited Columbia Riverkeeper     to work with us in this fight to protect our river, its resources and the families who are dependent on it. Columbia Riverkeeper     has been working to protect the river since 1989 (formerly as Columbia River United), long before LNG reared its ugly head in the estuary.

The LNG industry's mouthpiece, Energy Action Northwest, has millions of dollars - while we have heart. And heart means grassroots organizations made up of local teachers, fishermen, librarians, contractors, laborers, doctors, businessmen and farmers who believe in democracy. Heart means local citizens volunteering their time and donating their hard earned money to protect our livelihoods and our way of life. Heart means using the tools democracy provides.

As patriotic citizens we not only have the right, indeed we have the responsibility to make our voices heard on issues affecting our local communities and our families. We will not be intimidated by slanderous attacks from Energy Action Northwest. We will not be silenced by the innuendo and half-truths of the LNG industry. We will continue to work peacefully and to stand up for our river, our homes and our way of life.

CHERYL JOHNSON
Astoria