noLNG

PIPELINE TAPS FEARS

Pipeline taps residents' fears

Hundreds worry about a gas line's effect on their land and environment

Friday, November 16, 2007

TED SICKINGER

The Oregonian

A chorus of concerns rang out this week as landowners along the snaking route of a proposed natural gas pipeline showed signs of organizing to oppose the line and liquefied natural gas terminals along the lower Columbia River.

Several hundred landowners, farmers, advocates and concerned residents aired their complaints at public meetings this week in Maupin, Molalla, McMinnville and, on Thursday, Forest Grove. The towns sit along the proposed route of the Palomar pipeline, which would connect a planned LNG terminal near Astoria with an interstate transmission line that runs through central Oregon to California.

Douglas Sipe, a project manager from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, was the man behind the lectern and thus the stand-in punching bag for both his agency and the private companies that want to build the terminal and pipeline.

Most speakers expressed deep misgivings about the agency's ability to deal with associated threats to people, wildlife, farmland and the environment.

Read the rest here

Latest county staff report reaffirms opposition to LNG plant

Great news out of Clatsop County this evening. The Planning Commission staff report has reaffirmed their opposition to the proposed county-wide zoning changes that Northern Star was requesting in order to build at Bradwood.

It remains important that as many as possible attend the hearing on Wednesday, August 29th, 10:00 am, to let the Planning Commission know that they should follow the recommendation of their staff and the wishes of the majority of their community.

Is your sign in your yard?
Is your decal on your car?
Is your button on your chest?

County says Bradwood Landing executives failed to meet criteria for land-use approval

An updated report from county planners continues to advise the Clatsop County Planning Commission to deny Bradwood Landing LLC's application for zone changes and other land-use permits for an LNG terminal on the Columbia River east of Astoria.

Bradwood Landing made several advances in addressing deficiencies raised in an earlier staff report to the Planning Commissioner. However, after analyzing all the evidence presented during the commission's public hearing process, Bradwood Landing ultimately did not adequately address all of the deficiencies and ultimately does not satisfy the criteria to grant a zone change to build a liquefied natural gas marine terminal and related facilities at the former mill site, leading staff to reiterate its recommendation for denial.

full article  Latest county staff report reaffirms opposition to LNG plant

Supplemental Staff Report to Clatsop County Planning Commission, Aug. 23, 2007 (pdf)

Clatsop County Planning Commission: Bradwood Landing information 

As an added bonus to our day, the photo at the top of this post is KMUN Coast Radio's photo of the day tomorrow. You can show your appreciation for their helping save our river by dripping them a note. Or seeing as how it's pledge week, you can always give them your quarters, and if you do, make sure you mention you saw our "save our river' banner on their site so they know we know we are out here.

Status check from Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community

Margie Castle of Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community sent us this summary of where things stand, for which we thank her very much!

Much is happening that needs to come to your attention. I'll set it up as bullets and hit the highlights.

• NorthernStar is on a fast track of submitting reports, comments and information to the FERC. It is in your best interest to refer back to previous emails and find the one sent on how to access information on the FERC website. It is also in your best interest to send in letters of comment. If you don't have the directions for navigating the FERC, let me know. The docket number is CP06-365.
  State and Federal agencies are holding NorthernStar accountable and not letting them slip through any of the required permitting processes.
  The channel deepening project was completed and accepted using information on CURRENT ship traffic and does not include increased ship traffic or new and bigger types of ships. This seriously impacts NorthernStar. The NorthernStar proposal increases traffic by 2 to 3 ships per week (104 to 156 ships per year) with a size range of 900 to 1200 feet in length. Not acceptable under the current project recommendations.
  NorthernStar has yet to file a full response to the Coast Guard letter dated July 24, 2006. This is the letter that clearly states delays of all other ship traffic will occur.
  NorthernStar is visiting public agencies (i.e. Land Conservation) asking what mitigation projects they are currently working on and offering to foot the bill or pledge money toward the project. This is their way of buying acceptance of their destroying our land, environment and way of life. All pledges have the big string attached of "if they get their permits"
  After putting our names, addresses and tax lot descriptions out to the public on the FERC website and in public meetings/open houses during the pre-filing process, NorthernStar has now decided our privacy needs to be protected and we are only to know if the final route is, indeed, on our property if we can identify it by the tax description. If you want to know if your property IS on the final route, let me know and I'll connect you with our people who have the information.
  We now have copies of the program run on the History Channel concerning the danger of LNG. Let me know if you would like to arrange for a showing with friends in your home. We cannot show it in a public venue due to copyright laws.
  We also have a copy of a talk given by Loretta Lynch, past Director of the California Public Utilities Commission under Gray Davis. We showed it last Thursday evening  at our public meeting and are willing to show it again. She clearly lays out the lack of need for an LNG terminal anywhere on the Pacific coast. Her presentation is worth watching. Loretta went with a group of us to meet with Kulongoski's chief of staff, Peter Cogswell.
• The Thursday, December 7th meeting was well attended. Thank you to Howard Meharg and Jonathan Fant , candidates in the  recent primary/general elections. They were the only ones to answer our challenge to elected officials. Gentlemen, you will be remembered if you run again. Both pledged continued support. Mr. Fant offered suggestions and connections to other organizations. Dean Takko did respond he was unable to attend.
• NorthernStar has named their project "Bradwood Landing" because of the warm, fuzzy feeling that name evokes in the general public. It creates a mental picture of serene woods, gently flowing waters and the sounds of nature ever present. Don't let it fool you. The name of the location is Bradwood, Oregon. We need to make sure the public doesn't buy into the psycho-babble. Call it Bradwood or NorthernStar's proposal, not Bradwood Landing.
• NorthernStar submitted a letter of comment that was about 264 pages in length. Included were copies of letters in support of their project. Most of them were form letters signed by union members from southern Oregon with a few sprinkled in from our region. Please respond by posting your return comments against the project.
• Elected officials are still not taking a stance even with the election over. Several received large donations from unions and the River Pilots Association. Please remind your officials who really  elected them. Remember, we aren't against the unions or jobs, just against this project, eminent domain and the loss of our personal rights. Continued  calls, letters, and emails are needed to our elected officials. Keep them up to date. Pressure them to take a stand, one way or the other. If they stand against us, at least we'll know.
• Take pictures of your land where the pipeline is expected to go. Due to the heavy rains this year, much sliding is taking place. Have pictoral evidence to support your stance against the project--this may save your property.
• Media Blitz--what to do with all the glitz you've received in the mail. Your options are:
  
  • Trash it Put a 39 cent stamp on it and return to sender. You may write on the opposite side your opinion. The post office will NOT deliver if you just write return to sender. You need the stamp due to bulk mailing rules.
  • Put all of it in a large envelope along with your letter to your Senator/Representative/Mayor/Commissioner/whoever and mail it all to them
  • Put it in a large envelope along with your letter and mail it all back to NorthernStar.
  • Put it in a large envelope along with your letter to the newspaper/editor and mail to your local paper The object being to alert the above that we are not impressed nor sold on NorthernStar.

• As a group, it is our goal to mount a media campaign against NStar. However, the cost of a single running of a full-page, black and white ad is over $2000 so we are looking at several avenues to get the word out to the public. Some ideas include several smaller ads over time; billboards; access to reader boards at area businesses (do you know someone willing to take a public stance and put the message up?); and signage on private property along high traffic routes.  We raised a little over $400 Thursday night, which is a good start. Please send in your donation to:

LCSC
4503 Ocean Beach Hwy
Suite 108 PMB#531
Longview,WA 98632

• There are 13+ proposed energy related projects from Kalama, Washington to Warrenton, Oregon including a possible new pipeline connecting the Mist caverns to the TransCanadian Pipeline to California. Add to that the push for an  LNG terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon. All these projects are presented to the general public as necessary to meet the energy needs of the Pacific Northwest. How much energy do we need? How big a population do they think we have? How stupid do they think we are? Think about it--we've been shipping excess power out  of our region for years.  Therefore, what is the true stand for eminent domain when the benefit is not for our region? Do we have a legal leg to stand on in regards to this issue? Don't let them sell us another Trojan bill of goods. These are excellent points to raise in your letters.

All of us serving you through Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community wish you and your loved ones restful relaxing times with friends and loved ones through the holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannakuh and the best in the New Year!

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?   

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."

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.