The Oregon Department of Justice launched another challenge to the Jordan Cove LNG project Friday, in a motion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reopen the record and set aside an order granting authority and issuing certificates for the proposed LNG import terminal and associated Pacific Connector Pipeline. The motion states the “Jordan Cove Energy Project, L.P. has applied to the Department of Energy (DOE) for authorization to export natural gas and intends to ask the Commission to amend its existing authorization to add export facilities; and the price of domestic natural gas has remained at a price significantly lower than the price the Commission relied upon to find the project in the public interest.”

The motion insists that a new application is more appropriate than an amendment of the earlier application and asks to reopen the record stating, “Good cause exists because the facts demonstrate a change in core circumstances that goes to the very heart of the case. The heart of this case is whether the Jordan Cove LNG import terminal is in the public interest and the Pipeline is required by public convenience and necessity pursuant to the Natural Gas Act (NGA). The Commission’s Order relies on the Project providing an additional imported natural gas supply to the region as the benefit that outweighs the adverse impacts on private landowners and the environment. However, the facts the State seeks to submit in the record demonstrate that any benefit that may have existed when the import Project was proposed, no longer exists to offset the adverse impacts of the Project when the facility is intended to export domestic gas.”

The US Fish and Wildlife have also weighed refusing to sign off on the project indicating that Pacific Connector has not supplied requested information. Nevertheless, the pipeline battle continues and the future of the Olympia oyster hangs in the balance.