noLNG

Letter to the Daily Astorian

Letter: Alarm bells ringing
The Dec. 24 story in The Daily Astorian, "Storm blows county off guard on LNG," demonstrates LNG speculator NorthernStar's willingness to mislead the public. In executive Joe Desmond's criticisms of the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce report, the story's author reports on several of Desmond's statements.

Statement: The draft said LNG tankers had been identified as targets for "malicious intent." Desmond's letter said that statement was speculation not supported by intelligence. Reality: Here are two quotes from "LNG Facilities in Urban Areas: A Security Risk Management Analysis for Attorney General Patrick Lynch, Rhode Island," by Richard Clarke of Good Harbor Consulting: (1) "In a recently released document known simply as the National Planning Scenarios, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) indicated that a potential terrorist attack on a chemical or gas tanker is the number six doomsday scenario for the U.S. government." And (2) "MS-13, a Central American criminal organization with a large membership in East Boston, is feared to be targeting the LNG facility and tankers near Boston. MS-13 has a strong presence in harborside neighborhoods of East Boston alongside which LNG tankers Everett."

Statement: The draft said the estuary is in danger from a damaged LNG vessel. Desmond wrote that there is no proof of this assertion. Reality: The responsibility of proof lies in the lap of the developer. Since it is conceivable that damage could occur, then NorthernStar needs to demonstrate that damage to an LNG vessel cannot occur.

Statement: The draft said a major spill of bunker oil would potentially result in major economic impacts. He wrote there had never been a spill of bunker oil from an LNG carrier. It would take the breach of both hulls of a double-hull carrier. Reality: LNG ships can carry bunker oil. A double-hulled vessel (the Limburg, an oil carrier) had its double hull intentionally penetrated by terrorists. Again, the demonstration of proof belongs squarely with the developer.

Statement: The draft said all other vessels would be expected to move outside the 500-foot security exclusion zone for 15 minutes or more before resuming their position. Commercial fishermen might face longer delays. "This is not true," was his written response. He said "exclusion zones" don't exist.

Reality: "Exclusion zones" do exist, but they exist around LNG terminals. However, the report apparently called them "security exclusion zones," which accurately describes what does exist around LNG vessels, "safety and security zones," which exclude other vessels from the LNG carrier and its transit path. Also surrounding LNG vessels are "zones of concern." While not excluding anything, these are hazard zones extending 2.2 miles around LNG vessels, and include the following hazards to the public and property: freezing, burning, asphyxiation and explosion.

NorthernStar appears to embrace low standards of veracity when communicating with the public. Alarm bells should be ringing loudly in regulators' and the public's ears.

Robert Godfrey
Eastport, Maine

Beware Texans bearing gifts

Today's Daily Astorian has an editorial worth a read. Titled Beware Texans Bearing Gifts with a subhead of "LNG developers are here to make a pile, not to make our region more livable," the piece makes some nice points about the long-term impact of allowing this sort of heavy industry on our river.

A few quotes:

     At the heart of the LNG discussion is this simple truth: An LNG terminal at Bradwood will dramatically alter the culture of the Lower Columbia River, and in a way that many of us will not like 20 years from now.    

...NorthernStar and the others are here to make the kind of killing that big developers dream of. They are not here to be our longstanding friends or to make this a more livable place.    

Developments like this are for all practical purposes irreversible in a meaningful human time frame. Particularly at a time when this region is being considered for designation as the West Coast's first National Heritage Area, we should approach all major decisions with seriousness and profound awareness of our obligations to future generations.

Read Beware Texans Bearing Gifts.

Remember the Planning Commission meets in Astoria this Wednesday to make a preliminary recommendation. The meeting starts at 10 a.m., in the Judge Guy Boyington Building, 857 Commercial St. in downtown Astoria

Armed vessels on the Columbia an unwelcome vision

Several members of Wahkiakum Friends of the River are featured in Tony Lsytra's article "Armed vessels on the Columbia an unwelcome vision" in today's Longview Daily News. The article talks about the potential for the militarization of the river, noting that "the Coast Guard won't say what kind of armaments the escorts would include, it has been known to use small vessels mounted with M-60 machine guns on the river."

Frans Eykel says "It sets a certain tone. ... You've got that feeling like a little tickle on your back. ... We live in a peaceful area of natural beauty and all of a sudden you get those big ships with the guns and all of a sudden everybody is suspect."

Paula and Gregg Carlson also talked with Tony and are shown sitting on their beach, just across from the site where Northern Star wants to put in the LNG regasification site.

The article is worth a read and the comments...well, let's just say they are typical for Daily News stories about possible LNG plants in the area.

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

Coast Guard releases WSR

The Coast Guard has completed their review of the Waterway Suitability Assessment for the Bradwood Landing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal project submitted by Northern Star Natural Gas, LLC. We have heard that many people are having difficulties in attempting to download the file, so we have made it available for download here: Download Bradwood_WSR.pdf

Here are a couple of articles from local newspapers on the subject:

• Longview Daily News article: Coast Guard releases study on LNG
• Daily Astorian: Coast Guard: River not ready for LNG

 

 

LNG veil of secrecy on security to be lifted 'early next year'

article from the Daily Astorian

 

A report detailing safety and security issues connected to the proposed Bradwood liquefied natural gas project will be released to the public, Clatsop County announced Thursday.

County Administrator Scott Derickson said the U.S. Coast Guard and Northern Star Natural Gas, the project developer, have agreed to make available the Coast Guard's review and response to the company's Waterway Suitability Assessment.

The assessment will address at least some safety and security issues, including tanker traffic, although it will also have information redacted for security purposes. It should be interesting to see what actually makes it through the review process.

But here's the thing I really love. Remember this article from last week? Shipping impacts left out of LNG report which said:

"...the company contended large vessel traffic on the Columbia River had already been assessed by other projects such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Channel Improvement Project, which considered the impacts of deepening the shipping channel for vessels traveling upriver. Northern Star did not feel the need to do another review based on the impacts of LNG vessels."

Reread that last sentence. Then read this quote from Gary Coppedge in today's article:

"All our studies show there will be no substantial impact, aside from another ship on the river..."

Ummm, Gary, what studies? Didn't you just say you didn't do any studies? Although to be fair, I guess if you didn't do any studies, it makes it awfully easy to say that the ones you did didn't show anything negative. Or something.

ADDENDUM:

Oh wait! There another thing. While perusing the Partner list at Northern Star's site, I noticed that the company listed as providing "river transit analysis" is Parsons Brinckerhoff. That would be the same Parsons Brinckerhoff that was the project manager on Boston's Big Dig project that collapsed last summer, killing Milena Del Valle. The same company that is now being sued for gross negligence and breach of contract and being investigated on criminal charges in relation to Del Valle's death.

This is a nice piece on the pending lawsuit in the Boston Herald:

State Attorney General Tom Reilly, whose term is up at the end of the year, said the lawsuit being filed in state court is based on the belief that the project managers knew early on about problems with the epoxy bolt system used to secure 4,500-pound cement ceiling panels but didn’t take steps to fix it.

"The clock was ticking. The fuse was lit. It was just a matter of time until this tragedy occurred," Reilly said.

    The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for repairs, loss of tunnel use and toll revenue and other economic factors. ... A separate criminal investigation is ongoing. Evidence is now being presented to a grand jury that will decide whether criminal charges up to manslaughter will be brought, Reilly said.

    "I can tell you this: What I saw was a crime. ... It will be up to the grand jury to decide whether it is," Reilly said Monday in announcing the state lawsuit.

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling safer already.

Clatsop County planning for Bradwood

 Warrenton City Manager Ed Madere received approval to ask Clatsop County officials to develop a comprehensive approach to developing a public safety corridor to deal with hazards related to the Bradwood LNG facility, rather than tackling the issue piecemeal. Last month, the county signed a privacy agreement with Bradwood Landing to allow eight employees to view privileged safety information on the project, including the U.S. Coast Guard assessment of LNG ships on the river.

Madere recommended that the county hire expert consultants to represent itself and other local agencies, including Warrenton and Astoria, in developing and reviewing plans with Bradwood Landing officials, to address safety and transportation issues. Mayor Pro-tem Mark Kujala and Commissioners Terry Ferguson, Frank Orrell and Dick Hellberg were in favor. Mayor Gil Gramson was absent.

from The Daily Astorian

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?