California’s gain but Oregon’s pain

The push by energy speculators from Texas, New York and California to build the first West Coast liquid natural gas terminal in Oregon is yet another unfortunate sign that our state is being viewed as a suitable place for high-risk industrial projects that California and Washington won’t tolerate. While the residents and political leaders of Tijuana, Mexico, successfully fought plans for an LNG terminal there, most of Oregon’s politicians have been unwilling so far to speak out against such projects.

Last year, Oregonians reacted angrily to plans to bring a ship-breaking operation to Oregon that would not be allowed in California. The LNG schemes planned for the lower Columbia River estuary and for Coos Bay, however, make the ship-breaking project seem mild in comparison.
The Oregonian’s recent story on plans for two massive new gas pipelines that would extend more than 200 miles from the proposed LNG terminals on the Columbia to the existing California-bound pipeline in Madras makes clear what’s motivating the Oregon plans. While the pipeline for the Coos Bay project would run directly into California, the Columbia River projects have the same goal: quench California’s appetite for gas while sparing our southern neighbors the safety, environmental and economic impacts of an LNG terminal.

It’s no secret that California has a massive demand for gas or that it has consistently rejected risky LNG terminals that create a mere 35 to 40 long-term jobs. While California recently rejected an LNG terminal 14 miles offshore, Texas-based Northern Star wants to put such a terminal 38 miles up the Columbia River.

The project would degrade prime salmon habitat, and each outgoing tanker would take with it 20 million gallons of fresh Columbia River water as dead weight to help stabilize the empty ship. Because of the incredibly high energy content of liquid natural gas, there are real reasons to be concerned about the risk of an accident or terrorist attack. According to studies from the U.S. Sandia National Labs, a terrorist attack on an LNG tanker off Astoria’s shore has the potential to engulf the city in flames. Not exactly a selling point for local tourism.

The Oregonian