Pipeline developers seek new approval
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Companies that want to build a natural gas pipeline across southwestern Oregon are again seeking approval in Washington, D.C., this time for a way to export American gas to Asia.
The line would convey Wyoming natural gas from a transmission hub in southern Klamath County to the proposed Jordan Cove natural gas terminal at Coos Bay. The underground pipe would be 230 miles long and 3 feet in diameter.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline in 2009 but withdrew the license after the project developers switched strategies from importing gas to exporting it.
The Medford Mail Tribune reported the developers will hold meetings the week of June 25 in Medford, Roseburg, Klamath Falls and Coos Bay.
The pipeline has drawn opposition from landowners as well as environmentalists and some Oregon public officials.
"LNG export is bad for salmon, bad for landowners and bad for business," said Democratic state Sen. Alan Bates of Ashland.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio wants Congress to deny the power of eminent domain, arguing that such pipelines fail the test of being necessary for public use because they would increase domestic energy prices.
The terminal has a separate approval process. It is on track to be the first LNG port on the West Coast to export the growing supplies of domestic gas, a product of new drilling techniques in shale formations in the country's mid-section.
The timetable calls for construction of the terminal in 2014 and the pipeline in 2015, with both finished by the end of 2017. At the terminal, gas would be super-chilled and condensed as a liquid for shipping.
Backers of what's called the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline filed initial papers with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A complete application is expected to be filed by the end of the year, said Michele Swaner, spokeswoman for a Salt Lake City company proposing the project along with Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and Fort Chicago Energy Partners.
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Information from: Mail Tribune, http://www.mailtribune.com/
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
