FERC staff has completed a final environmental impact statement (EIS) for three affiliates of Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) to convert an existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Mississippi into an export terminal.

The Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project calls for expanding KMI facilities in Jackson County that would include two liquefaction trains, each with a capacity of 5 million metric tons/year (mmty) and maximum capacity of more than 5.4 mmty. Affiliates Gulf LNG Liquefaction Co. LLC, Gulf LNG Energy LLC and Gulf LNG Pipeline LLC also propose modifying the existing pipeline system to provide bidirectional flow.

Constructing and operating the project “would result in limited adverse environmental impacts,” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in the final EIS [CP15-521]. “If the project is constructed and operated in accordance with the mitigating measures discussed in this EIS, and our recommendations, adverse environmental impacts would be reduced to less than significant levels.” The draft EIS was issued last November.

FERC’s determination that the project would have minimal environmental impacts includes the fact that the terminal would be an expansion of an existing, operating LNG import terminal with existing LNG storage tanks and other facilities. The Commission also said a compensatory wetland mitigation plan proposed by Gulf LNG would adequately address impacts on wetlands.