Jordan Cove Energy Project LP (JCEP) received final approval from Coos County commissioners for its plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the International Port of Coos Bay, OR.

The commission gave its unanimous approval to JCEP’s plans to build a marine berth, two storage tanks with a total of 6.4 Bcf of capacity, regasification and sendout capacity of 1 Bcf/d, an electric power plant and a natural gas liquids extraction facility to recover propane and butane. The approval was based on conditions related to environmental protection, highway access improvements, facilities retirement and emergency response planning that were incorporated into the permit.

JCEP, a limited partnership between an affiliate of Alberta-based Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP and Energy Projects Development LLC, said the vote completes the county process of granting a local land use permit. Jordan Cove project manager Bob Braddock said the company embraced local and state permitting requirements and processes while simultaneously addressing requirements laid out by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

“Jordan Cove has always taken the position that we have a responsibility to address and mitigate the impacts of our project, so we consider the final conditions required by the county commissioners to be both reasonable and appropriate,” said Braddock.

The vote came two months after JCEP and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline LP filed an application with FERC for approval to build the LNG terminal and an associated interstate pipeline system to meet natural gas demand in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and northern Nevada (see Daily GPI, Sept. 6). FERC plans to issue a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) addressing both projects in the first quarter of 2008. The DEIS will be subject to further review and comment from the public and Oregon state and local agencies, with final FERC approval anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Pacific Connector proposes to build a 230-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline to transport up to 1 Bcf/d from the proposed Jordan Cove terminal to markets in the region. The pipeline would interconnect with Williams’ Northwest Pipeline near Myrtle Creek, OR, Avista Corp.’s distribution system near Shady Cove, OR, and the systems of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Tuscarora Gas Transmission and Gas Transmission Northwest, all located near Malin, OR.

Both the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) have stated that they are concerned about the possible environmental impacts of the terminal and pipeline. In a recent letter to FERC, the BIA’s Northwest regional office listed a series of concerns it had about the projects, including potential impacts on regional watersheds, water quality issues, a need for additional data concerning possible effects on fish and wildlife and the impact that LNG vessel safety and security zones might have on tribal treaty rights in its list of concerns.

At a separate hearing the Coos County board of commissioners tentatively approved an International Port of Coos Bay application related to the projects’ marine facilities. The commissioners could give their final approval to that application as early as Dec. 12.

©Copyright 2007Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.