Warrenton, OR (September 3, 2015) – Last night over 200 people, the vast majority opposed to the Oregon LNG project,
packed the City of Warrenton’s public hearing about the proposed Oregon LNG terminal and pipeline. Before the hearing, local activists rallied outside with signs, banners, and a mock-up of the proposed pipeline. And an overflow crowd presented hours of testimony urging a Hearings Officer to deny the Oregon LNG terminal and pipeline because it conflicts with the City’s local land use laws. Because so many people wanted to testify, the Hearings Officer scheduled a second hearing on Thursday evening.
“Tonight’s hearing demonstrated that people who live in this area fiercely oppose Oregon LNG’s proposed terminal and pipeline,” said Dan Serres, Conservation Director with Columbia Riverkeeper. “It’s hard to imagine a project that would be more incompatible with the safety of local residents and health of the Columbia River Estuary – a linchpin for salmon survival and recovery.”
“This has always been an outrageously risky and speculative venture,” said Tessa Scheller, a Warrenton resident and founder of the Skipanon Watershed Council. “My family and this community have poured countless volunteer days and years, our treasure and time into restoring the Skipanon River’s health. We have planted thousands of trees, replaced culverts and educated ourselves and this community while working together to remove dams, improve water quality, fish and wildlife habitat. LNG is a risk to everything we do.”
Dozens of activists spoke about how Oregon LNG would threaten public safety, damage wetlands and other fish habitat, restrict public use and access to the terminal site, inhibit boats on nearby waterways, snarl local and regional transportation, and pollute air and water quality. Others expressed frustration that Oregon LNG had submitted an application to Warrenton after being dealt a defeat in a property dispute with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns a dredge disposal easement on the terminal site.
Cheryl Johnson, a retired school librarian, said, “Oregon LNG doesn’t have the right to use the site for an LNG terminal because the Army Corps has an easement there. But Oregon LNG is more than willing to waste everyone’s time with a dead-end project. We are urging the City of Warrenton to protect this community’s public safety, economic future, and River by rejecting Oregon LNG.”
Some participants traveled from far away to register their opposition to Oregon LNG. Bonnie McKinlay, with 350 PDX and Portland Rising Tide, said, “We are engaged in this fight because we don’t want Oregon to become a trafficker of liquefied fracked gas and carbon pollution, but tonight we also learned about the immense hazards from this reckless project. It’s a bad idea all around, and it’s long past time for the State of Oregon to reject this project.”
The hearing was conducted by a hearings officer hired by the city of Warrenton. Because of the huge interest in the issue, the Hearings Officer scheduled a second hearing on Thursday, September 3 to receive additional oral testimony. The Hearings Officer is expected to make a decision in coming months.
Later in September, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold its own hearings in Astoria, Vernonia, and southwest Washington to take input on its draft review of the Oregon LNG terminal and related pipelines.
