noLNG

Cowlitz County standing up for Safety and Security

Board of Commissioners
County Administration Building
207 Fourth Avenue North
Kelso, WA 98626
TEL (360) 577-3020
FAX (360) 423-9987
www.co.cowlitz.wa.us

March 25, 2008

Dear Mr. Coppedge:

The Board of County Commissioners has reviewed the Cowlitz County Environmental Criteria Evaluation prepared by URS dated October 2007 to assist the County in connection with SEPA/NEPA review related to the proposed Bradwood Landing Pipeline. The Board notes in particular the footnote on page 1 of that document indicating that NorthernStar does not plan to submit applications for necessary permits under Cowlitz County land use regulations. This is to advise you that such a plan is simply unacceptable to the County.

Cowlitz County hereby informs you that Bradwood Landing LLC will be expected to comply with all applicable County land use regulations implicated by the proposed pipeline in Cowlitz County. The proposed 36-inch gas pipeline would cut across Cowlitz County, impacting roads, forestland, farms and streams, while potentially involving the acquisition of private lands by eminent domain. The County must ensure that the safety of its citizens, as well as its economy and natural resources are protected, all of which are of course the reason for the adoption of the local land use regulations. In addition, the County and its municipalities will be responsible for police and fire protection related to pipeline construction and operation, imposing burdens on those services. Pipeline construction and maintenance will further create infrastructure costs to the County, including disturbance of existing roads, new roads, and additional traffic. In order to protect the citizens of Cowlitz County and its financial resources, the County expects the following of Bradwood Landing LLC:

• Bradwood Landing must comply with the County's adopted land use regulations in connection with the siting and development of the pipeline. County land use regulations ensure orderly and efficient development, protect the safety of citizens, and protect natural resources. Regulations include the comprehensive plan, critical areas ordinance, floodplain management ordinance, shorelines management master program, gas and oil pipeline permit ordinance, and forest conservation regulations. The County will assist Bradwood Landing in applying for necessary permits under these regulations.
• Bradwood Landing must fund 100% of the costs related to public safety response and infrastructure requirements incurred with respect to construction and operation of the pipeline. As noted above, the proposed pipeline will create additional burdens on the public safety response resources of the County and its municipalities. Those costs should be borne by the applicant, rather than the taxpayers. In addition, the applicant should fund any necessary capital improvements, infrastructure modifications, or required mitigation.

We have determined the foregoing requirements to be critical to the protection of the safety of County residents, and to the protection of its economy and natural resources. The County looks forward to working with Bradwood Landing during the permit application and review process. Please contact our Department of Building and Planning at 360-577-3052to facilitate timely processing of applicable permits.

Sincerely,

Meeting: LNG ships on the Columbia River

This could be the lower columbia river!
Proposed liquefied natural gas (lng) sites on the river would mean tankers like this on our river 2 to 3 times each week.

• Will this impact your business?
• Will this impact the ports?
• Will this impact recreational use of the river?
• Will this impact city and county revenues

Please plan on attending this public forum on the impacts to private property owners, businesses, ports and recreational activities from proposed LNG terminals on the Lower Columbia River.

Saturday, January 13th
1 to 3 p.m.
Cowlitz PUD community room
Longview, Washington
Sponsored by:
Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community

LNG pipelines: ruptures and rivers

Officials dissect fatal Wyoming blaze (link)

Communications glitches delayed the response to a fire that killed a bulldozer operator, they concur.

Bulldozer operator Bobby Ray Owens Jr., 52, of Louisiana died Saturday when his machine hit a natural-gas pipeline. The ensuing fire sent flames hundreds of feet into the air, and it took crews about 45 minutes to extinguish it.

Sheriff Danny Glick said responding to the situation was tough because different organizations were trying to get information about what was happening and because there was a lot of emotion on the scene.

Dennis West, chief of Laramie County Fire District 1, said some crews were delayed in getting directions to the scene because cellphones didn't work and radio traffic was jammed.

West said the emergency management communications center in Cheyenne was inundated with calls within minutes of the start of the fire.
...
"(That) was our biggest downfall," West said. "Getting the information and the answers to our questions was the hardest part about it all."

With so many calls coming through the communications center Saturday, determining exactly where the explosion had occurred became a problem.

"The size of the blaze itself made it look further away than we actually were," West said. "Our perception was thrown off."

Spotty cell phone service, a small emergency call center that would be quickly overwhelmed in a catastrophe like this, and a hard time getting information and answers to questions. Sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it?

and another interesting aspect...  (link)

The Wyoming Interstate pipeline was struck and ruptured on Saturday just west of the Cheyenne compressor station. The company declared a force majeure event due to the damage.

You really should take a look at the link on "force majeure" above. Here's a snippet:

"...frees one or both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as war, strike, riot, crime, act of God (e.g., flood, earthquake, volcano), prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract."

...and yet, one might think that a piece of construction equipment hitting a pipeline (or buried power line or other such) is pretty darned controllable. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the Internet, but this seems like an awfully easy way for a company to duck liability.

Let's move close to home next. This is particularly interesting in light of the above article.

Pipeline falls into Toutle River (link)

A 300- to 400-foot section of the Williams Northwest natural gas pipeline dropped into the Toutle River near Castle Rock when the river bank gave way Thursday and is now bobbing in the water. Pipeline officials say it poses no immediate danger and repairs are under way.

The exposed pipe has not ruptured but is moving as it is buffeted by river water. The pipe needs to be protected from any debris in the rain-swollen river, and workers have reduced the pressure to guard against any explosions if the pipe was damaged, said Williams spokeswoman Michele Swaner.

(ed. So, while the pipeline dangled in the river, the pressure was reduced by 50% -- not cut-off, just reduced. Because a pipeline floating amongst the debris of the rain-swollen river would never rupture.)

Long-term, Swaner said they'll have to replace all of the exposed pipe and may well move that entire section of pipeline because of on-going worries about the integrity of the river bank.

Update: The pipeline is now back to more usual operations, meaning full pressure. In a pipe that, according to the above article is half the size of the usual pipeline. Is that a good idea?   

Upcoming events: Oct 4th and 14th

On Oct 4th, there will be an informative meeting with federal, state, & county legislators from Washington and Oregon at the LCC Auditorium in Longview, WA. The meeting will begin at 6:30 PM.  Current legislators and opponents in election races will be in attendance.  Topics to be addressed include the government’s use of eminent domain to benefit a private corporation as well as safety and environmental aspects of the proposed Bradwood project.

On Oct 14th, there will be a West Coast Day of Action Against LNG.  We are planning an event now. More details will be sent out soon.  On the 14th, we will be demonstrating along with others in Mexico, California, and Oregon.

"...we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

...or so Gary Coppedge says in this Daily News article about the Cowlitz County Council.

Cowlitz County officials are charged with reviewing environmental documents where they relate to the pipeline and plan to hire a consulting firm to do the work.

Ken Stone, who oversees the county's public works and building and planning departments, said Northern Star initially will front $20,000 for the consulting work and pay more if necessary.
Stone said the county is turning to an independent consultant because it doesn't have the staff to review the documents.

Gary Coppedge, Northern Star's vice president of development, said his company is "comfortable" with the arrangement. "I think it shows a good working relationship with the county," he said. "It's appropriate that we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

One has to wonder if Northern Star thinks they should be reimbursing all the counties and groups impacted by their proposal. If so, I believe there is a large, and growing, group of homeowners and business people who want to talk about their current expenses and future losses. Because examining every bit of information NS submits to FERC, attending meetings, hiring consultants is expensive. Staying up nights worrying about what might happen to our beautiful river, community, and way of life carries an incalculable cost...if this was a commercial, we might call it priceless.