Jordan Cove / Pacific Connector Takes a Major Hit: Oregon DEQ Steps Up!
June 4, 2019
Written by Ted Gleichman, Sierra Club member. He serves as a policy adviser to the Oregon Chapter Beyond Gas & Oil Priority Campaign and as well as a member of the National Strategy Team for Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign.
This DEQ denial was a genuine big deal – an actual potential show stopper. Under current law, the project cannot be built without reversing or abrogating this Oregon decision. Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act gives states the authority to determine whether a pipeline project would damage state water supplies and resources. DEQ went through an exhaustive, complex analysis, with many staff members working long and hard to complete this evaluation properly.
As a result, DEQ executive director Richard Whitman determined that the state could not certify that the impacts of the proposed fracked-gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal would be either harmless or capable of mitigation. He therefore denied the mandatory Jordan Cove/Pacific Connector permit application.
But there are two important wrinkles: DEQ’s denial was “without prejudice”, meaning JC/PC can reapply – and they can be expected to. And DEQ also stated publicly in their denial press release that they would do their best to cooperate with the federal permitting schedule, which is controlled by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
To amplify on that, Director Whitman explained to the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) at their May 16 meeting in Portland that he chose to permit them to reapply because the DEQ professional staff assessment is that there is perhaps a chance that the company (Pembina Pipeline Corp., based in Calgary, Canada) could repair the holes and flaws in their initial application (which was some 3,600 pages, for the biggest project of any type in Oregon history).
In response to a question from EQC chair Kathleen George, though, Director Whitman agreed that it would be difficult for the company to compile the additional information to heal the flaws the DEQ has identified, and for DEQ staff to review these supposed changes in a new, substantially-revised application, in time to meet the federal schedule.
In addition, a new Jordan Cove/Pacific Connector application would require a new public comment period and at least one new public hearing. As Director Whitman noted, “That also takes time.”
The current FERC schedule has the Commission deciding whether to approve a Final Environmental Impact Statement (which is not yet complete or published) in the first quarter of 2020.
So we must never forget that this two-part scheme by this Canadian energy speculator to ship fracked gas through Oregon to Asia “ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” -- but we are having a real impact and Pembina faces a major new hurdle.
