FERC releases draft EIS for Oregon LNG project

(The Daily Astorian; Aug. 5) - Oregon LNG’s $6 billion terminal and gas pipeline project would cause adverse impacts to the environment, a draft environmental review has found, but most could be reduced if the company takes steps to minimize harm to fish and wildlife habitat and water quality and adopts adequate safety features. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which released the draft this week, is still assessing how the project might affect threatened or endangered species and critical habitat.

The draft is an important benchmark in the decade-long drive for the project, which includes a liquefied natural gas plant and export terminal along the Skipanon Peninsula in Warrenton, Ore., at the mouth of the Columbia River, and an 87-mile pipeline from Washington state through Columbia, Tillamook and Clatsop counties. Oregon LNG would export natural gas from Canada and the Rocky Mountains in the United States to foreign markets, likely in Asia.

Environmentalists, fishermen and residents in Warrenton and Astoria who oppose Oregon LNG will likely tear through the document in search of potential defects that could stall or block the project. Public comment on the draft is open until early October. FERC has set a timetable for completing the final environmental impact statement on the project by February. Separate from any environmental issues, “We conclude that the economic impacts of the Oregon LNG project would be positive,” the draft states.