Environmental Groups Urge FERC to Deny Lake Charles LNG Extension After Nearly a Decade of Failed Construction Plans

Lake Charles, LA - Today, Sierra Club, Healthy Gulf, and Louisiana Bucket Brigade motioned to intervene in Lake Charles LNG’s request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend their time to 2028 to build their fracked gas export facility. Lake Charles LNG was initially granted a construction permit in 2015, but has failed to actually move forward with their project for nearly a decade.

Owned by fossil fuel corporation Energy Transfer Partners, Lake Charles LNG would be more destructive than originally considered in 2015, and would have a severe impact on vulnerable wetlands, endangered wildlife such as the eastern Black Rail, and produce an exorbitant amount of climate-change causing pollution such as methane. FERC’s now out-dated environmental impact analysis (EIS) for Lake Charles LNG is insufficient as it doesn’t adequately consider the project’s pollution impacts on vulnerable communities, especially communities of color and fenceline communities. 

Lake Charles LNG is also not an economically viable project. Lake Charles LNG’s primary potential fiscal targets would have been foreign markets, however the project has failed to line up customers or reach a final investment decision (FID) as most foreign customers are moving away from polluting fuels due to serious climate change concerns. 

Lisa Diaz, Associate Attorney with Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign, issued the following statement:

“Lake Charles LNG should not be granted an additional extension as the project has failed to secure a final investment decision and the effects of the proposed project pose a greater risk to the environment as a result of the various projects proposed, approved, and currently under construction in the vicinity of Lake Charles LNG. A thorough environmental assessment must be conducted by FERC to analyze the cumulative impacts associated with extending construction of this project. We will continue to monitor this project and explore legal strategies that arise throughout the permitting process.”

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

“Lake Charles LNG poses a major threat to the vulnerable regional environment and vulnerable communities still struggling to rebuild in Southwest Louisiana. This fossil gas export behemoth would be terrible for the global climate, for fenceline and communities of color, and for our communities who want to stay above sea-level on the Gulf Coast. Fracked gas is a major source of methane, a super potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for warming our climate, which leads to increased intensity and frequency of hurricanes in Southwest Louisiana. On top of that, Lake Charles LNG would carve up and destroy our irreplaceable Chenier Plain and wetlands, which are critical natural barriers to storm surges and hurricanes. Denying Lake Charles LNG an extension should be a no-brainer.” 

James Hiatt, Southwest Louisiana Coordinator for Louisiana Bucket Brigade, issued the following statement: 

“There is no wisdom in granting an extension for a facility where the risks far outweigh any benefit. A re-assesment of the environmental impacts will highlight the vulnerabilities of placing a major greenhouse-gas producing facility in low-lying hurricane prone areas -  so close to neighborhoods such as Graywood. Southwest Louisiana needs opportunities to revitalize our economy through sustainable industries such as coastal restoration and renewable energy, not industries like Lake Charles LNG that continue to contribute to climate change and the loss of our precious wetlands. FERC must stop wasting time and resources on major polluting projects like Lake Charles LNG when it offers little local economic value to Southwest Louisiana, is not in the public interest, and puts our communities and environment at great risk.”