In regards to The World article, “Comments pour in for Jordan Cove permitting,” I really don’t like being misquoted. After sending detailed e-mails and volumes of information it is unfortunate the reporter did not take the time to read some of what I sent.
It is all spelled out in the scientific literature that if an LNG tanker ship was to be breached and 1/2 of one of the (4 -5) LNG tanks (or 3 to 4 million gallons of LNG) was to leak out into the water and a pool fire was to develop, people up to a mile away would be at risk of receiving 2nd degree burns within 30 seconds. This is because heat flux levels of 5 kW/m2 would go out as far as a mile away from the fire. (5 kW/m2 is the heat flux level that can cause 2nd degree burns on exposed human skin). If the Jordan Cove LNG Export Project was to actually make it through permitting and construction, 16,922 people would live in the Jordan Cove LNG hazard zones of concern according to the Jordan Cove former FERC EIS (http://citizensagainstlng.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jordan-Cove-LNG-Tanker-Hazard-Zones-of-Concern-FEIS-4.7-3.pdf). There is little concern given for their safety by our local public officials. Both the Cities of North Bend and Coos Bay have signed agreements indemnifying Jordan Cove should there be an LNG accident. Such a deal for Jordan Cove!
The paper is wrong, I did not say people would “self ignite”, but I did say structures or objects close to an LNG pool fire (should one develop) could actually self ignite from the high heat flux levels. These are not my words but come directly from the December 2004 Sandia Report that you can link to below (http://www.energy.ca.gov/lng/documents/2004-12_SANDIA-DOE_RISK_ANALYSIS.PDF)
22 kW/m2 – seventeen-second exposure to heat levels of 22 kW/m2 causes newspaper to ignite. (page 41)
25 kW/m2 – Minimum heat flux level needed to ignite wood at indefinitely long exposure without a flame (page 38)
This is why we have such a problem these days because professional people are not researching or studying out anything. Our local fire departments are guilty of this as are our local school superintendents and City councils. The paper has made it easy for Jordan Cove to come in spewing their propaganda as fact ( which it is not ) fooling a lot of people about their proposed facility. The paper should be operating to a higher standard.
As soon as Jordan Cove manipulates their way into getting their permits they will sell those permits to China or Korea or God only knows who else. No one will be laughing then… You only have to look at what has been going on in Canada to understand the significance of this. http://business.financialpost.com/2013/02/25/heavy-foreign-content-of-lng-model-puts-canada-at-risk/?__lsa=4c30-ff0e
It has been a disservice to our local area that our local paper has not been covering any of this.
The paper did not mention about all the domestic gas companies that filed motions to intervene against Jordan Cove. The significance of this I explained in comments filed on July 10, 2013, with FERC. http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20130710-5163
Americans will end up with higher energy costs and all the risk and eminent domain land seizures associated with this project, while a foreign energy company and their investors end up with all the benefits and profits. …And we are talking billions of dollars in subsidized profits here.
While I think most of the rest of the article is okay, I do wish that more attention to these very important factual details would be addressed by the paper in the future. As a long-time paper subscriber I think you owe it to me and everyone else to get the facts and our quotes correctly stated.
For more information visit – CitizensAgainstLNG.com
