Sierra Club Petitions Environmental Protection Agency to Deny Driftwood LNG’s Operating Permit for Violating Clean Air Act

Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana - Yesterday, Sierra Club filed a petition to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny Driftwood LNG’s Title V operating permit request, which would allow it to construct and operate a massive industrial facility consisting of five fracked  gas liquefaction trains and associated equipment in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Driftwood LNG is one of several large polluting facilities being approved in Southwest Louisiana that would take fracked gas from pipelines, turn it into liquid and put it on large tankers for export to the global market. 

If approved, Driftwood LNG would be one step closer to starting construction. However, Driftwood LNG has yet to reach a Final Investment Decision (FID) or have customers lined up to buy their fracked gas.

The EPA should deny the Title V permit as Driftwood LNG’s application violates several aspects of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and was inadequately assessed by Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). LDEQ failed to comply with EPA’s Title V regulations by approving the permit application, which was flawed from the start, and without proper review from EPA.

Driftwood LNG’s flawed application included an expired Prevention of Significant Deterioration Permit (PSD), which is not allowed under the CAA. LDEQ granted this extension, although their review of Driftwood’s permit extension was insufficient and illegally lacked transparency. For example, their air quality analysis of Driftwood cannot be reviewed as presented in publicly available files, and records of Driftwood’s emissions are unsupported. 

Additionally, the LDEQ violated the CAA by issuing the PSD permit extension. In their application, Driftwood used an incorrect Ozone modeling approach; downplayed pollution impacts; underestimated the facility’s potential to emit toxic pollution; and included an unenforceable and incorrect “Best Available Control Technology” analysis. 

James Hiatt, Southwest Louisiana Organizer with Louisiana Bucket Brigade, issued the following statement: 

“Southwest Louisiana deserves better than Driftwood’s empty promises and attempts to skirt the already lax environmental regulatory system. Its location to nearby neighborhoods would force residents to put up with the emissions, noise and lights from their flares, adding to the already high levels of pollution that Southwest Louisiana endures. Driftwood’s disregard for even attempting to start in compliance with regulations offers an insight of how they do not value our community. They offer nothing but more pollution and destruction of vulnerable wetlands, and it’s clear from their Title V application that they’ll cut every corner they can to get built because they only have their bottom dollar in mind.”

Naomi Yoder, staff scientist with Healthy Gulf, issued the following statement: 

“The Driftwood LNG terminal is a dangerous and unnecessary project. The risk of a catastrophic explosion from refrigerant chemicals stored onsite is alone unacceptable. But in addition to that, the terminal would release extraordinary amounts of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants every year, fueling more storms and horrors like Hurricanes Laura and Delta. The people of Southwest Louisiana deserve better than that.”

Tom Gosselin, Associate Attorney with Sierra Club, said:

“Driftwood LNG would emit a host of dangerous air pollutants into the surrounding communities. And the gas it would export would involve tremendous methane releases when burned, which is a known contributor to climate change and the connected severe weather events. The EPA needs to recognize that LDEQ severely misstepped in supporting Driftwood’s application and should deny their Title V permit.”