Environmentalists and other activists are marshaling their troops to continue their battle against the recently authorized global exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Cove Point LNG Terminal on the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, MD.

On Tuesday protesters outside the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) said they would challenge the remaining federal and state permits necessary for Virginia-based Dominion Resources to proceed with the addition of liquefaction and export capability at the existing import terminal. They urged Gov. Martin O’Malley to join them.

The protesters said at a minimum O’Malley should petition FERC to require a full environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project instead of the less-rigorous environmental assessment currently required because an EIS was previously performed prior to the expansion of import capabilities at the site. Dominion spokesman Dan Donovan said the area is already an industrial site and as such should not be subject to an EIS.

“Much of the infrastructure is already in place, and every question being raised today has been addressed in the comprehensive documentation provided by the company,” Donovan said. “The people of Maryland stand to receive significant benefits from this project — including thousands of jobs and many millions in new government revenues — while the nation can help meet the energy needs of two important allies.

Cove Point, the smallest proposed LNG export project, is in the initial stages of review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the PSC. It recently received conditional authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries (see Daily GPI, Sept. 12). Pacific Summit Energy LLC, a U.S. affiliate of Japanese trading company Sumitomo Corp., and GAIL Global (USA) LNG LLC, a U.S. affiliate of GAIL (India) Ltd., each have contracted for half of the 1 Bcf/d marketed capacity (see Daily GPI, April 2).

Dominion already has won out over the Sierra Club in one lawsuit challenging the project (see, Daily GPI, Jan. 7).

“Why would we spend billions in new fossil fuel infrastructure to help an out-of-state corporation ship gas to Asia? This is clearly not in Maryland’s interests,” said Josh Tulkin, director of the Sierra Club, Maryland Chapter. “Gov. O’Malley and the Public Service Commission should see Dominion’s plan for what it is: a raw deal for our health, environment and families.”

The Maryland PSC also will have a say in the project as it will determine whether Dominion should be allowed to site certain infrastructure, such as a 130 MW power plant, at the Cove Point site.

“Dominion’s plan is a global warming worst-case scenario for Maryland,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Dominion is threatening to single-handedly derail Gov. O’Malley’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction plan.”