National security concerns have forced El Paso Corp. to withhold information regarding liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries to the recently recommissioned Elba Island, GA, import terminal. After an initial test shipment in October — which was rerouted from Boston following local security concerns there — the Elba Island terminal has not received any more shipments this year and the company cannot disclose when the next shipment will be delivered.

An El Paso spokesman said the company has stepped up security at its terminal, but there are no local security issues holding up normal operations. “Because of security issues, we are not going to publicly announce when we are expecting shipments,” said El Paso spokesman Erin Woods. “We have increased security measures at all of our facilities and are maintaining increased awareness regarding safety. However, there have been no concerns locally regarding the safety of our facility in Savannah.”

The terminal is scheduled to accept about 35 shipments each year (about 3 Bcf per ship) when it reaches full operations over the next couple years. The facility received final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin normal operations Dec. 1 after having been shut down since 1982 because of low domestic gas prices.

The U.S. Justice Department earlier this month reported a possible terrorist threat to the nation’s gas infrastructure, but said the threat was “uncorroborated.” Nevertheless, LNG shipments have received significant scrutiny since Sept. 11. The U.S. Coast Guard blocked LNG ships entering Boston harbor and one ship bound for Distrigas in Boston was redirected to the reopened Elba Island facility. Since then, a judge denied Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s petition for a temporary injunction to halt the LNG shipments, ruling that the city of Boston and several communities bordering the harbor had offered “no discernible claim” to warrant the blockade.

Meanwhile, FERC held a closed-door technical conference on Nov. 16 during which it heard from parties about the potential security risks associated with re-opening the Cove Point LNG import facility in Lusby, MD, due to its close proximity to the Constellation Energy-owned Calvert Cliffs nuclear facility. FERC gave its approval in October for restarting the plant despite concerns that the facility could be subject to sabotage that would threaten the nearby nuclear plant. The two facilities are located within four miles of each other. In an unusual, if not unprecedented, move, FERC announced it would reconsider its decision to allow Williams to reactivate and expand Cove Point. And in an order issued last week, the Commission said it would review the national security concerns raised over the LNG plant and decide by Jan. 22 if the facility’s permit should be pulled.

El Paso’s Elba Island terminal will have capacity to store 4 Bcf of gas and deliver 675 MMcf/d into the interstate pipeline grid. It also is planning an expansion that will boost storage capacity by 3.3 Bcf and send-out by 360 MMcf/d.

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