Group: Stop LNG Expansion
By Scott M. Larson, Savannah Morning News, Ga.
Mar. 7–A night of worst-case scenarios about the explosion potential for the liquefied natural gas facility on Elba Island ended with a call to arms to stop the plant’s expansion.
Savannah attorney Clete Bergen urged members of Citizens for Clean Air and Water to lobby local officials to approve an ordinance banning liquefied natural gas plants such as the one on Elba Island from being built within five miles of residential areas.
And Chatham County Chairman Pete Liakakis is the big target.
“Pete Liakakis is the most powerful political person in this county,” said Dr. John Northrup, founder of Citizens for Clean Air and Water. “If we defeat this, it will be because Pete Liakakis wants it defeated. If we don’t defeat this, it will be because Pete Liakakis doesn’t want it defeated.”
The safety of the LNG plant has been on the minds of a few area residents for a while, but especially since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
After a series of public hearings and studies, a federal agency late last year gave the plant’s operator, El Paso Corp., approval to double the storage capacity of the Elba Island plant to 15.7 billion cubic feet. That could be done by 2012.
The industry has a good safety record, Bergen acknowledged. He spoke Thursday night to about 50 people at the Hyatt Regency Savannah.
“What could happen?” he said. “We need to be thinking about this.”
People in the room clearly view the plant as a potential danger.
LNG is a natural gas cooled to minus-260 degrees, but it will not burn in its liquid state. However, if a ship transporting the substance upriver failed or the plant was breeched, it could create a flammable cloud that might travel two to three miles, Bergen said.
“It’s a situation where the wind could carry the vapor. And at some point, it’s going to find an ignition source,” Bergen said.
But as LNG warms, there is a very small band of temperatures at which it could ignite, said Bill Baerg, spokesman for El Paso. The process is very safe, he said.
“Since the plant was reactivated in 2000, we’ve received well over 200 cargos without incident,” he said. “The crux of the expansion is to meet the energy need. Natural gas is needed in this country to fuel a growing economy.”
The future of LNG plants is offshore, said Stephen Willis, who chairs the Coastal Sierra Club.
He said other LNG plant expansions have been stopped by local ordinances, particularly in Baltimore. The Baltimore case is tied up in court right now.
“The only one that hasn’t been stopped because of local action is here,” he said.
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