Below follow some of the questions recently sent to Jeffrey Bishop, Executive Director of the Port of Coos Bay by Citizens for no LNG.
3) Thirty three LNG import terminals have been approved already in North America. Some of these terminals that have been built have been unable to get supply contracts. If Jordan Cove was to be approved by FERC and built but they were forced to shut down or never operate due to market conditions (i.e. they filed bankruptcy, dissolved, etc), who then would pay the payments on the tugs, the slip dock, the dredging of the access channel, the property, etc, since these are to be owned and/or controlled by the Port? (Emphasis mine)
4) I understood that even though APM terminal is not coming for a least 5 years and possibly not at all, we are still going to pursue the bay dredging project. This is at the request of APM? Do we have a signed agreement with APM terminals? Can I get a copy of this agreement? Who is paying for the proposed dredging?
5) I thought I heard you say that the dredging would also benefit Jordan Cove in that you could work harbor disruptions so that they would not be so impacting to other bay users. Correct?
6) I am still rather confused as to how the dredging project can go forward without the agreements in place that are required of the legislature before bonds are to be sold? I am also still rather confused as why the Port approved over a million dollars in September to begin working on the bay dredging project without these agreements in place first? Doesn’t this put our Port at an extreme liability?
It should be noted that of the 33 LNG terminals approved by FERC much of the land was acquired by eminent domain for both the terminal and the supporting pipeline from property owners. Eminent domain was used to secure property even in the terminals that have been moth balled… those people lost their property for nothing.
Rural America is definitely taking it in the shorts. Governor Kulongoski recently disbanded the Office of Rural Policy. Now there is a proposal for a huge ‘energy corridor’ which includes more transmission lines and pipelines. The environmental footprint of this type of centralized power is enormous and ALWAYS routed through rural America.
Part of the problem with the port is that their entire business plan is dependent upon a minimum level of growth and modeled on a continued adherence to heavy imports, furthering the nation’s trade imbalance. Our local leaders are going to have to start thinking out of the box.
Thank you for your comments,
M
Areas that still have semi-pristine environments teaming with wildlife are especially prone to this sort of outrage, fewer people to fight the powers that be. In the event of an LNG accident, everyone within one mile will be incinerated, 3 miles, third degree burns.