Street roots., March 17, 2017, Page 8, Image 8

News
Page 8
Street Roots • March 17-23, 2017
‘A never-ending nightmare’
P H O TO COURTESY
OF C A S C A D IA
The Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas pipeline is back on the table
in Coos Bay, and concerned property owners are pushing back
BY STEPHEN QUIRKE
tracked gas from leaving North America for
working with other landowners to hike the
sale on a foreign market.
path of the pipeline and document the
effects it would have on their property and
In a Feb. 10 news release, Jordan Cove
n the whirlwind of deregulation and
the environment.
LNG
said
it
profiled
for
a
new
application
corporate jubilance surrounding
with FERC. Informational open houses will
“Part of our success is just connecting
President Donald Trump, Canada-based
with other landowners and asking them
Veresen Inc. hopes to find some new wind be held March 21 through 24.
Two major problems highlighted in
what they wanted,” Evans said. “Hike the
in its sails.
FERC’s
March
2016
rejection
were
the
lack
Pipe really helped us do th a t To do this day,
Veresen is the money behind the long-
of confirmed LNG buyers
we know hundreds of
running effort to export liquefied natural
and unclear access to the
landowners throughout the
gas (LNG) from the coast of Southern
"Southern Oregonians pipeline route.”
pipeline’s right of way in
Oregon in Coos Bay. Its plans were dealt a
h a w demonstrated,
the 230 miles between
One of the people Evans
serious blow last March when the Federal
Malin and Coos Bay. In fact, year alter year, that
met was Stacy McLoughlin,
Energy Regulatory Commission denied key
much of this right of way is we don't want this,
a landowner in Klamath
permits, marking the first time the agency
being occupied by property
County who had reforested
has ever denied permits for LNG. In
pipeline and export
owners
who
have
no
357 acres of logged-over land
December, the agency declined to
term in al."
interest in a pipeline
that had been littered with
reconsider its decision, and shortly after,
H A N N A H SOHL, old electronics and
Veresen withdrew its proposal for the South negotiation. According to
DIRECTOR OF ROGUE C LIM A T E
the FERC letter, the
appliances. What bothers
Dunes power plant, which had been
company
obtained
only
4.7
McLoughlin
most is the idea
proposed to liquefy and cool gas for storage
percent of the right-of-way
of heavy construction and an
and shipment after passing through the
easement and 2.8 percent of the total
explosive pipeline running through 400
proposed Pacific Connector Pipeline.
Now, with a president who is warm to the construction easement. Meanwhile, eminent rivers and streams between Maupin and
domain could be used on 630 landowners to
Coos Bay.
fossil fuel industry, the company says it’s
make way for the Pacific Connector
They can’t mitigate that, she said. “You
still in the game.
Pipeline. Fifty-four of those landowners
cannot go into that South Umpqua River
“I think With a little help from the White
and do horizontal drilling, drilling under it,
House, we’ll be able to get there,” CEO Don actively intervened in the FERC process to
object to the pipeline. At a Feb. 24 town hall or the Rogue River, and say you’re not going
Althoff said after a March 10 meeting with
in Ashland, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden publicly
to impact that. They don’t even mitigate
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn.
opposed the use of eminent domain for the
where the impacts happen - they mitigate
And residents of Coos County will be
pipeline and called for a ban on both its use
other places. How does it help me or my
looking at an initiative to push back
and the threat of its use for the Pacific
community to have the negative impacts to
In May, Coos County voters will consider
Connector Pipeline.
the South Umpqua River mitigated at the
a first-of-its-kind law that would ban the
“The first we heard of it was when we
South Dunes golf course in Bandon? It
export of liquefied natural gas from the
found flagging on our property,” said Deb
doesn’t benefit the endangered species or
county by prohibiting fossil fuel
Evans, a property owner in Klamath County. our community. They’ll be leaving Southern
transportation that is not intended for local
“The more research we did, the more crazy
Oregon an environmental crime scene.”
use. This follows dozens of communities
that have passed local laws aimed to protect the project seemed.”
Concern from property owners has also
After refusing an offer to sell an
their water from fracking, and it could make
been echoed by the Klamath Tribes, which
easement to the company, Evans began
Coos County the first to prevent such
STAFF WRITER
I
See LNG, page 9