For the second time in two years a state appeals board in Oregon has remanded to the local county authorities part of a land-use approval for the proposed NorthernStar Natural Gas Corp.’s Bradwood Landing LNG receiving terminal along the Columbia River about 25 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. Again, the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners is being asked to reexamine part of earlier approvals of the proposed $650 million LNG project.

While NorthernStar officials reiterated that the Oregon Land-Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) substantially has agreed with the county’s 2008 land-use decisions, an opponent of the project that keeps appealing county action to LUBA, the Columbia Riverkeeper, emphasized that the county has continued to be rejected by the state board’s questioning of whether the proposed LNG facility would meet county standards for small- and medium-scale development, which they contend is the only kind of development allowed at the Bradwood site.

Last summer following the land-use appeals unit’s direction, Clatsop County directed its staff to bring before it revised land-use findings to refer to the statewide planning goal definition of the word “protect,” and clarify that Bradwood Landing does meet the county’s definition of “small or moderate” development (see Daily GPI, July 21, 2009). On a second appeal, however, the state board has decided that the county still has not satisfied its concerns.

NorthernStar President Paul Soanes on Tuesday reiterated the LNG terminal backers’ contention that the state appeals board has substantially affirmed Clatsop County’s land-use decisions and the remanding again is narrow and focused on only two of 23 issues that were addressed in the original county action. The latest ruling “further narrowed the issues the county must address in its findings to ensure compliance with local land-use requirements,” Soanes said.

“We are confident the remaining concerns will be resolved.”

However, the opposing Columbia Riverkeeper Executive Director Brett VandenHeuvel was quoted in news media around the state as characterizing LUBA’s action as a “crushing blow” to NorthernStar’s Bradwood plans. VandenHeuvel contended that the state appeals board is saying the project’s 100-acre site is too small to meet long-use criteria, but the proponents disagree.

“In its decision, LUBA agreed with Clatsop County that 100 acres was an acceptable threshold for use in determining scale [for the project],” a Bradwood spokesperson said. “LUBA has asked the county to recalculate the acreage based on adding and subtracting certain activities and has reduced the areas where pipeline impacts should be considered.”

The spokesperson reiterated that the LUBA ruling did not kill the project, and that the county can resubmit its local findings for LUBA’s approval.

While the opponents emphasize that the size of the project and the Bradwood mitigation plans are being seriously questioned, the proponents emphasized that the project is not excessive in size and still awaits the federal review of mitigation plans that is done under an ongoing process required by the federal Endangered Species Act.

“On this issue the county staff found the mitigation plan complied with local standards and that the plan could be approved with conditions after the state and federal permits are obtained,” the Bradwood spokesperson said.

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