Blog post by Brett VandenHeuvel, Riverkeeper’s Executive Director—
May 13, 2014. Riverkeeper’s attorneys argued cases this past week regarding the proposed Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal in Warrenton, Oregon. LNG export is simply a harmful and dangerous idea and we’re standing up for a better future. It is exciting to get our day in court in two cases. It is a real honor to represent our members and people who love the Columbia River.
Riverkeeper’s long-running case against the LNG pipeline took another turn Thursday, May 8, as our Staff Attorney, Lauren Goldberg, joined Clatsop County’s attorney to urge LUBA to uphold the County’s denial of the pipeline. OPB covered the hearing. Back in 2009, the County approved the LNG pipeline, and Riverkeeper challenged that approval. Then a new set of Commissioners reconsidered the original approval and ultimately followed the Planning Department’s recommendation to reject the pipeline. Oregon LNG, of course, does not like that someone questioned their pipeline and filed an appeal against Clatsop County.
Monday, May 12, at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
The Ninth Circuit hears cases in San Francisco and Seattle, but we were fortunate that our case was assigned to the beautiful Pioneer Courthouse in Portland. Tom Buchele from Earthrise Law Center at Lewis and Clark Law School argued our case with Riverkeeper’s in-house attorneys Lauren Goldberg and Miles Johnson helping out. In 2009, the U.S. Coast Guard granted its approval for LNG tankers on the Columbia River. We challenged that approval because the Coast Guard did not comply with federal law requiring a full review of the impacts and public participation. We believe that if the Coast Guard understands the full impacts of LNG tankers, and let’s the public share concerns, they may reach a different conclusion.
This case is important: LNG tankers are as long as three football fields and 17-stories high. Fishermen and other boats would be forced off the river when LNG tankers go by.
A big thank you to Earthrise for their tremendous work on this case. In addition to Riverkeeper, the appellants included our partners Columbia Pacific Common Sense and Wahkiakum Friends of the River.
