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Plan for Sparrows Point Liquefied Natural Gas Plant Goes Public

Posted on: Thursday, 19 January 2006, 21:00 CST

By JAMES MOSHER

A company that wants to build a $650 million liquefied natural gas plant at the former Sparrows Point shipyard is cautiously optimistic as it prepares for its first meeting with the general public.This is the first of what is going to be many, many public meetings, AES Corp. spokeswoman Linda J. McCarty said of the gathering, scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. today in the cafeteria on the Dundalk campus of the Community College of Baltimore County. But so far everybody seems to be open minded. They want to know more before making up their minds.Public sentiment is going to greatly influence the position of government officials. That's not surprising given that it's an election year.Bottom line is that I'm waiting to hear back from constituents, said John Olszewski Sr., chairman of the Baltimore County Council whose 7th District in the southeastern part of the county includes Sparrows Point. I'm keeping an open mind and letting the process play out.We had one very preliminary meeting with them in which they introduced us to the concept, said Fronda J

. Cohen, communications director in county government's Department of Economic Development. Our message to them is two things - one, talk to the community and two, talk to the community again.The plant would be a smaller version of Dominion Resources Inc.'s Cove Point terminal in Calvert County, AES said. Sparrows Point would become the fifth liquefied natural gas importing terminal in the United States, making Maryland the only state with two such facilities. Sparrows Point would have the capacity to deliver 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day, the company said.AES has been making the right moves, said Olszewski, who attended a briefing of local elected officials last month.Everything has been transparent so far, he said.The centerpiece of the project is a $400 million terminal. Arlington, Va.-based AES would also like to build an 85-mile pipeline costing between $200 million and $250 million that would connect its operation on Sparrows Point to a distribution center near Philadelphia. The company has been briefing state offices, including the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, as well as county and community leaders. Although the terminal and pipeline would bring natural gas, known for its relative cleanliness compared with other fuels, the project may be opposed by some environmentalists as well as people concerned about possible lost recreational opportunities and terrorist threats.Some of this has already come to Olszewski's attention.People are worried about things like what will happen to recreational fishing, he said. These are legitimate questions. Any time you have a proposal like this you have to weigh the benefits of what the business will bring to what sacrifices will have to be made.The plans still have to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Approval isn't expected to be given until next year. AES, which has an option to lease 60 acres on Sparrows Point for 99 years, doesn't expect to begin operating the facility until 2010.Aaron Samson, managing director of liquefied natural gas and lead AES official on the project, is scheduled to be in attendance at tonight's meeting, McCarty said. Kent Morton, recently appointed project manager for Sparrows Point, is also slated to be there, she said. McCarty is expecting 50 to 100 attendees.

Source: The Daily Record (Baltimore)

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