Sempra Energy’s $875 million, 1 Bcf/d liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in North Baja California, Mexico, continued operations Thursday despite an adverse Mexican federal district court action earlier in June that has caused the plaintiff — a former adjacent landowner — to cry foul, accusing the San Diego-based U.S. energy holding company of violating regulations governing the LNG facility’s operations.

Former landowner Ramon Eugenio Sanchez Ritchie on Thursday accused Sempra LNG of removing parts of its environmental assessment requiring a certain buffer or setback between the plant and the surrounding, mostly rural acreage.

For its part, Sempra had nothing new to report other than confirm that its Energia Costa Azul plant was continuing to operate, having completed the offloading of an LNG shipment from Indonesia last Monday.

“The court process is taking longer than we originally anticipated,” a San Diego-based Sempra LNG spokesperson told NGI Thursday. “In the meantime, we have continued operating our LNG terminal in Ensenada [12 miles north] with no disruptions to service.”

Sanchez Ritchie said through a Los Angeles-based spokesperson that the June 17 Mexican court decision against Sempra was a victory in his battle against the company to get back his adjacent 250 acres on the northern side of the LNG site and that he had “uncovered transgressions” by the plant operator that have allowed it to operate “out of regulatory compliance” in Mexican law.

Sempra LNG has been involved in a long-running dispute with Sanchez Ritchie dating back to June 2006 regarding its possession of the property. “We believe the ultimate goal of Sanchez Ritchie and those who are providing financial backing for his efforts, is not to keep the property, but to extract money from the company by disrupting its operations,” the Sempra LNG spokesperson said.

Sanchez Ritchie alleges that the company’s LNG permits require it to use the adjacent land for the natural gas plant operations. Sempra claims this is untrue. “The property was purchased after relevant permits were issued, and Sempra LNG has fully complied with all environmental laws and regulations, and continue operations in full compliance with its permits,” the spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, Sanchez Ritchie said Thursday the plant could be shut down in coming days “because the [Mexican] federal judge has signaled that there are significant irregularities and irresponsible actions, such as the cancellation of the plant’s ‘area set-back cushion’ and a pipeline filled with high-pressure nitrogen and natural gas running three meters from the property limits of my property.”

Five years ago, Sempra said, a Mexico City businessman went to court in North Baja, about 60 miles south of the international border, alleging that the U.S. energy company was using some of his property for the then-proposed LNG site — not the land it acquired earlier. At the time Sempra characterized the allegations as “without merit and factually defective,” noting the company was confident that it would prevail (see Daily GPI, June 23).

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