The Williams Companies should be in the holiday spirit after Wednesday’s decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reaffirming an Oct. 12 certificate that allowed Williams to reopen the Cove Point LNG import terminal in Lusby, MD. The Commission reviewed its original decision after Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski charged that it would permit “flammable” LNG to be imported to a site within four miles of the nuclear facility in her state.

Cove Point is located not far from Constellation Energy’s nuclear facility at Calvert Cliffs, MD. Sen. Mikulski called the proposed reopening of import operations a “nightmare scenario.” The Commission called a technical conference last month to listen to the national security concerns related to the facility.

The security concerns raised by the senator already were addressed last July when the Commission did its environmental review, said FERC Chairman Pat Wood. He doesn’t believe the LNG project would pose any significant threat to the Calvert Cliffs nuclear facility. However, he admitted he felt “much more comfortable” with the Commission’s original order after FERC did its closed door review of security issues.

Cove Point LNG import services are scheduled to begin next April. Williams also is planning to build a fifth LNG storage tank to boost capacity to 7.8 Bcf. The 850,000-barrel tank has an in-service date of Sept. 1, 2003. The $103 million expansion project would make Cove Point one of the top LNG import terminals in the nation.

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