1/21/15, 8:13 AMJordan Cove would be 'game-changer,' but coast residents worry about impacts, dangers - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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Jordan Cove would be 'game-changer,'but coast residents worry about impacts,dangers

COMMENT

Michael Hinrichs, spokesman for Jordan Cove, describes where boats will pull into a new slip for an LNG plant in CoosBay.

By Damian MannMail Tribune Posted Dec. 29, 2014 @ 2:00 amUpdated Dec 31, 2014 at 1:00 PM

It’s difficult to imagine the staggering scale of aproposed liquefied natural gas terminal at JordanCove on Coos Bay, part of a $7.6 billion plan byCanadian energy company Veresen to export gasto Asian markets.

Over a four-year period, up to 2,100 workerswould remove 6 million cubic yards of sand tocreate a slip for massive transport ships. Thesand then would be used as fill to raise the spit40 to 60 feet so that the facility can withstand atsunami and survive a 9.0 magnitudeearthquake.

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The natural gas pipline will snake through Haynes Inleton the left and under Coos Bay, including the oysterbeds in the foreground. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell

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1/21/15, 8:13 AMJordan Cove would be 'game-changer,' but coast residents worry about impacts, dangers - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

Page 2 of 6http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141229/NEWS/141229720/0/SEARCH

Located across the bay from the North Bendairport, the 500-acre natural gas liquefactionplant would surround and overlook the RoseburgForest Products mill that is currently the mostprominent industrial complex on the north spit.

To the east of the mill, a 420-megawatt powerplant would be built to provide the electricity for

a refrigeration system that would cool the natural gas to minus-260 degrees before it is pumpedinto two tanks, each about 180 feet tall with a diameter of 270 feet, on the western side of theproperty.

A slip would be cut into the spit for 950-foot-long ships that would pull into the bay to load up gasfor transport to Asia and other markets. A moving security zone of 500 yards would be maintainedaround each vessel transporting gas, according to a draft environmental impact statement issued inNovember by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Because of the sensitive cargo in the ships, the U.S. Coast Guard would escort the vessels throughinternational waters, and a sheriff’s boat would guide them through the bay.

Currently, large “chip ships” pull into the bay to load up with wood products. The liquefied naturalgas ships would be larger, though they wouldn't sit as deep in the water.

The gas would come to the bay through a 232-mile pipeline that would traverse Klamath, Jackson,Douglas and Coos counties and would require hiring up to 1,844 workers to build.

A work camp would be built just to the west of the Conde McCulloch Memorial Bridge to providehousing for those involved in the construction project. An existing rail bridge is being considered totransport workers across the bay to avoid adding congestion to Highway 101.

Michael Hinrichs, spokesman for Jordan Cove Energy Project, said the average salary of $85,000 ayear for construction workers will pump dollars into the local economy. Workers will be providedwith housing and meals.

“This is the largest single investment in the region that we know of,” he said.

It’s a project that has drawn praise from some local residents who have seen the economy sputterfor years. It’s also drawn criticism because of the project's environmental impacts and thepotentially explosive nature of the product itself.

FERC's draft EIS outlines worst-case scenarios should a leak from the ships' tanks or the plant'sstorage tanks form a vapor cloud. Such a cloud could ignite over a wide area, potentially inflictingburns on workers and residents. Structures within one-third of a mile potentially could ignite fromthe heat.

Hinrichs, whose company already has invested $200 million to plan for the project, said the closesthouse would be 1.3 miles from the tanks, and the airport is 1.1 miles away. According to hiscompany’s modeling, a worst-case rupture from a tank would be localized and wouldn’t damage theclosest neighbor, the Roseburg mill.

“You’d probably see a big explosion and a large fire,” he said.

The tanks have a dual containment system, Hinrichs said. Even if there was a major rupture, bermswould contain all the liquid from the tanks and foam would be sprayed over the liquid as a furtherprecaution. Hinrichs said a rupture of the tanks would be difficult because they are made of 3-foot-thick concrete and are encased in other materials to make them withstand a natural disaster, hesaid. The tanks sit on pendulum isolators, which help relieve the vibrations from an earthquake.

“Around the world, you don’t see storage containers of this design causing this kind of disaster,”Hinrichs said.

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1/21/15, 8:13 AMJordan Cove would be 'game-changer,' but coast residents worry about impacts, dangers - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

Page 3 of 6http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141229/NEWS/141229720/0/SEARCH

Gas detection monitors would be installed around the bay, and the plant would have its own firedepartment and emergency plans.

Hinrich's company didn’t model for the effects of a rupture of the transport ships as they traversethe channel, and the potential for a migrating vapor cloud that could ignite has led to the mostspeculation of a possible disaster to the local community, Hinrichs said.

Hinrichs said most people are skeptical about building an LNG facility on sand, but he saidengineers say the “angular sand” found in the bay is ideal for compaction compared to the“spherical sand” found at most beaches.

Massive machines will vibrate the sand while it is compacted to provide a stable base, Hinrichs said.The edges of this sand base will be fortified to withstand waves.

Jody McAffree, executive director of Citizens Against LNG, has been one of the most ardent criticsof the project since it was first proposed in 2004.

“Why would we want this here when no other port in California would want it?” she said. “Why puta storage facility straight across from a runway?”

McAffree said the LNG facility is too close to the airport and is being built on a bend in the bay,which she said increases the chance of a shipping accident.

The bay will be forever changed by the facility because of plans to raise the 500-acre area 40 to 60feet. In addition, the two storage tanks would sit even higher.

Despite claims by Jordan Cove, McAffree said building the facility on sand and digging throughsediment to install a pipeline is problematic.

“It’s such a huge hazard,” she said. “It’s on sand that’s going to liquefy.”

McAffree said the environmental damage could be significant to nearby Henderson Marsh, whichattracts migratory bird species. The crabbing, oyster and fish industry also could be severelyimpacted by such a huge change to the local environment.

“If they ruin the oysters, they ruin people’s jobs,” she said.

Lilli Clausen, owner of Clausen’s Oysters since 1981, said she already has brief periods when shecan’t harvest oysters when contaminants wash into the bay.

“When the New Carissa ran aground, it almost wiped us out,” she said, referring to a freighter thatwas pushed ashore during a storm and spilled 70,000 gallons of fuel oil into the water.

Clausen, who employs up to 25 workers in the summer and 16 to 20 in the winter, producesoysters that are shipped to restaurants up and down the West Coast.

Clausen said the pipeline to Jordan Cove will be installed through her oyster beds and the work willstir up a lot of silt that will contaminate her oysters.

Hinrichs said Jordan Cove is looking at installing the pipeline with a drilling technique that boresunder the channel to minimize disturbing the oyster beds.

Even so, he said, “We will have an impact on Lilli Clausen.” Hinrichs has met with Clausen to findways to mitigate any disruptions.

While some residents are opposed to the pipeline and LNG facility, others think it will be a shot inthe arm for the community and bring in the kind of high-paying jobs the area desperately needs.

“To be honest, it’s a game-changer,” said Brooke Walton, co-chairwoman of Boost SouthwestOregon, a nonprofit formed to get the word out about the project.

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1/21/15, 8:13 AMJordan Cove would be 'game-changer,' but coast residents worry about impacts, dangers - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

Page 4 of 6http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141229/NEWS/141229720/0/SEARCH

Local businesses will have to prepare for rapid expansion, but also anticipate the workforcetapering off over time, she said.

Walton said the area is still heavily dependent on timber products, and the harbor needs morediversification of industry.

The location of the LNG facility is close enough to benefit the community but far enough away tonot dominant the towns of North Bend and Coos Bay.

“A lot of businesses would like to have the industries out on the north spit,” Walton said. “It’s out ofsight and out of mind.”

Walton said she’s heard the skepticism about using sand as a base for the facility, but she saidmany homes and businesses in the area have sand underneath them.

“If it is compacted enough, it is better than concrete,” she said.

In the case of a tsunami or an earthquake, Walton said she would be worried about many buildingsand facilities in the area other than the LNG facility.

“Much of our current infrastructure is not built to earthquake standards,” she said.

There have been some preliminary discussions about being able to tap into LNG’s power plant ifelectricity was disrupted along the coast, and that would be very beneficial for the community,Walton said.

A pilot, Walton said the planes approaching or taking off from the airport fly in a different directionthan the LNG facility.

“If you look at it from the air, you can see it wouldn’t cause any problems,” she said.

After the project is completed, the facility would require about 150 workers for the plant plusanother 50 jobs in support industries.

While the number of jobs doesn’t seem like a lot, Walton said even a few dozen new jobs is a boostto the local economy.

“Fifty jobs is huge out here,” she said.

If Jordan Cove gets approval, it hopes to begin work in late 2015. The Pacific Connector pipelinewill take about two years to build, but the earth-moving project and plant in Jordan Cove will takefour years. It would be the first LNG plant on the West Coast.

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or dmann@mailtribune.com. Follow him onwww.twitter.com/reporterdm.

For more stories, videos, an interactive map and links to online resources,visit www.mailtribune.com/project-pipeline.

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1/21/15, 8:13 AMJordan Cove would be 'game-changer,' but coast residents worry about impacts, dangers - News - MailTribune.com - Medford, OR

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Robert Godfrey

The terminal siting directly across the waterway from a commercial airport (the tanks

presenting a potential aircraft terrorist or accident target), in the outside of a bend in the

waterway (berthed LNG ships presenting an allision hazard from other transiting ships), and

requiring LNG ships to subject ennumerable civilian homes and businesses to federally-

defined 2.2-mile-radius Hazard Zones along the inland waterway transit route, violates the

LNG industry's own terminal siting best safe... » more» more

22 days ago 0 Likes

Like Reply Share

Tracy McCloud

We're fighting this until the bitter end. BET ON THAT.

22 days ago 0 Likes

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Richard Kaiser

Everything about this project is wrong. It's being built in the wrong place by the wrong

company for the wrong reason.

Veresen, the small Canadian energy company that wants to build the LNG terminal and the

pipeline to transport the gas to Coos Bay lacks the experience and the financial resources to

build and operate a facility on this scale. The company has never built an LNG plant, was

barely profitable in its last fiscal quarter, owed more in payables than it had in receivables

and had less... » more» more

23 days ago 0 Likes

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Andrew Kubik

@Richard Kaiser: It's essentially being funded by the public, from start, finish

and forever. The only west coast state stupid enough to entertain this proposal

is Oregon. (Why am I not surprised?)

22 days ago 0 Likes

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