Landowners United rebuttal to News & Review pipeline editorial

The editorial of October 30th encouraging the Douglas County Planning Commission to rubber stamp Williams Pipeline application for a major revision of their Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to export natural gas as LNG from Coos Bay misses some important points. The Planning Commission may well grant the CUP but what is at stake are the conditions. We believe the Planning Commission has significant leverage to secure important protections and a much more beneficial agreement for the people of the Umpqua. The Planning Commission should carefully consider their options to craft a wise decision and not just give away an approval.

This application to the Planning Commission is the ONLY time and place the people of Douglas County have any leverage on a giant multinational gas corporation. This CUP is our ONLY chance to gain respect for the land of the Umpqua and the landowners, businesses who live here. People come here and plunk down their hard earned cash precisely because this sort of thing is NOT here. Great weather, a beautiful river with more salmon every year and good land to grow grapes and other fine foods are the merchandise we have to sell to the world. If constructed, this pipeline will continue to do great harm to the value of rural real estate located anywhere near it

The applicant previously requested a CUP to import LNG, convert it to gas and pipe it eastward towards California. Those of us in opposition said from the beginning this was to export LNG. The Planning Commission at that time understood our point which is why the condition limiting the CUP for import only was there in the first place. This is what the Applicant seeks to change. The editorial suggested that the recent development of new drilling techniques created a glut of gas so the market now had a sudden surplus. This thinking is contrary to common sense and business reality. Executives who run corporations are paid big salaries to know what is going to happen years in advance. All of the four LNG terminals approved under the Bush Cheney Energy Act originally applied to import LNG but the instant they were on line turned around and applied to export. We believe Williams Pipeline committed a premeditated deception when they said this natural gas was for California. Their intention was to export from day 1. What would happen to any of the rest of us if we lied to the Planning Commission?

There is no reason for the Planning Commission to believe a word the applicant has to say and has every right to demand real evidence of what is proposed. The applicant has a record of deception, strange meetings, accidents, evasion and pressuring people. Indeed, the real money here is not with the applicant Williams Pipeline, but with Veresen Energy, of Calgary Alberta. Go to their website and see what they say about this project. Look closely at their financial disclosures. Why are we dealing with Williams Pipeline, Veresen Energy’s cat’s paw? It would be an asset to the discussion if the News Review were to publish some information about who is going to reap billions in profits shipping the gas to Coos Bay.

Williams Pipeline is proposing using the lowest welding quality and pipeline standards because the human population out in the coast range is small, but what about our forests? If the economy of Douglas County is fundamentally involved with the management of these forests do they not deserve better than minimal? Regardless of anyone’s opinion on forest management we can all agree an explosion from an earthquake or a fire burning to a leak in the pipeline at 1400+psi could be catastrophic. Remember if the earthquake arrives in summer a forest fire will be in the context of an historic disaster throughout the region. Other parts of the state are preparing for the earthquake right now and we are here seriously considering a 36” high pressure gas pipeline. We need the highest quality steel pipe and welding standards not the lowest. We have some experience with Chinese money operating through a Canadian company with the Formosa mine down on Silver Butte. When the ore petered out the DEQ allowed the Canadian mining company to make a clean getaway. The citizens of Douglas County got a superfund site pouring highly acidic water into the Umpqua River and American taxpayers get to cough out millions of dollars to clean it up. We also have some experience with the economic development schemes of Coos County with the 12 inch pipeline constructed several years ago to create jobs at the coast. Few if any jobs have been created. The South Coast Development Corporation (SCDC) is in complete disarray. Go to Mgx.com for the lowdown on the mess in Coos County.

The crossing of Weaver Ridge is a serious and complicated matter. A significant earthquake, 9 or greater on the Richter scale, is quite possible during the lifetime of this pipeline. The Planning Commission should reserve final approval of a CUP until the best scientific expertise available approves the engineering of an earthquake proof passage over a steep rocky ridge created by a previous earthquake. Any such engineering is going to be big and complex and Williams Pipeline will select the lowest bidder for their biggest profit. The applicant is offering the minimal engineering they need to slip it past FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This is a matter of Life and Death to the people of Camas Valley and beyond. We cannot see how the Planning Commission can make any decision this serious until FERC delivers a Draft EIS. Only then can we see what is actually being proposed. The Planning Commission ought to reserve the power to decide what is good enough for Douglas County and not Williams Pipeline. It would be helpful if the News Review might dig out the latest developments in earthquake proofing pipelines and Williams Pipeline’s safety record.

When this application was to bring energy to the people of California there was a need and benefit that could be construed to justify giving the applicant the right of Eminent Domain to take any right of way they could not buy. At that time Congressman Peter DeFazio said this import proposal did not justify Eminent Domain. Now with the export of domestic natural gas the need and benefit claimed by the applicant to justify granting the use of eminent domain are the short term construction jobs and the profits for investors from another country. This is an outrage! We get profound and long term damage to our lands and way of life along with real and significant risks so that wheeler-dealers from Canada and China can reap enormous profits?

The Douglas County Democratic Party adopted a resolution calling for Royalties as at least approaching a fair deal. The Republican Party refused to even discuss joining this resolution which shows their true colors for protecting private property rights. Before damning the Republicans remember the big push and rule bending for this LNG Terminal and pipeline scheme is from our governor, John Kitzhaber and labor unions in Portland. For decades now the economic development strategy for Coos and Douglas Counties has been to attract big corporations to relocate here with sweetheart deals. This strategy has been one failure and blunder after another. The News Review would do this community more good if they dug out what these economic development agencies have spent over the years and how many real jobs have been “created”. What the Umpqua has to offer is beauty and livability not ugly industrial development.

Why are we exporting domestic natural gas anywhere? Americans have been told for decades that we have an energy shortage and we need to conserve fossil fuels. Now it seems the energy companies are willing to undercut our domestic economy to make a fast trillion. An important question the Planning Commission must ask is what is the difference between import and export? The export of domestic energy will drive up the cost of living in numerous ways for Douglas County just like everyone in the USA. In his latest town hall visit out at UCC, Oregon’s senior Senator, Ron Wyden said this export was inflationary in general and would drive up the cost of fuel in specific and that he was asking the Department of Energy (DOE) to complete a careful review before any more export terminals are approved. Is the News Review advocating we send our energy to China along with our logs?

These hearings and this decision is now or never for the Umpqua. The News Review proposes to give planning approvals to Canadian gas company backed by Chinese money so they can reap billions in profits and take a right of way by eminent domain giving Douglas County the liabilities and risk in exchange for chump change. Mark Twain once said never argue with people who buy their ink by the barrel but we had to respond to this shallow editorial.