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CANYONVILLE — Indignation is the reaction hundreds of Oregonians have for a proposal to build a natural gas pipeline across the state, with a large contingent of it right here.
On Sunday, about 75 people gathered at the Canyonville Youth Center to discuss options and plans for stopping the proposed Pacific Connector, a 3-foot diameter pipeline, 223-miles long, which could transmit 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Coos Bay to Malin 20 miles east of Klamath Falls.
Citing safety concerns, environmental concerns, non-consideration for alternative-energy options and detrimental effects to public and private property — the pipeline requires up to 100-foot wide easements in some cases — local residents expressed their dismay.
Meeting organizer Diane Phillips of Azalea said it’s time citizens put pressure on their state- and federal-level elected officials to put a stop to the proposal.
“We’re going to turn the heat up,” she said.
Besides urging elected officials, Phillips said participants are writing letters and are developing a legal defense strategy to help reinstate local and state authority over such projects that was trumped by the 2005 Energy Act.
“I still feel there’s a lot that can be done,” she said.
The pipeline would be jointly owned by the Williams Pacific Connector Gas Operator LLC, Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP.
Williams is expected to make a formal application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the pipeline early next year.
Construction for the pipeline is estimated to be around $800 million. It would transport natural gas from the proposed Jordan Cove Terminal in Coos Bay — which would convert liquefied natural gas back to its gaseous state — across Coos County, enter Douglas County west of Camas Valley, go between Winston and Myrtle Creek, and then turn southeast near Days Creek before making its way to the California border.
The LNG terminal is one of five proposed in Oregon, with four others proposed along the lower Columbia River.
Opponents of the Pacific Connector say its construction in Oregon is unjustified since it would mainly be built to supply California’s energy needs.
“I view this as a pipeline that has no benefits for Southern Oregon and not even California,” said David Lohman, an attorney who attended an anti-Pacific Connector meeting in Medford on Saturday.
Lohman said it’s time to consider clean energy for California in the future rather than fossil fuels.
If built, construction of the pipeline is expected to begin in summer 2009 and be completed in 2010.
FERC and Williams have each held open houses in the past to answer questions about the pipeline. A draft environmental statement for the pipeline is expected to be released by FERC next year.
For more information about the pipeline or FERC, go to www.williams.com or www.ferc.gov.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
On Sunday, about 75 people gathered at the Canyonville Youth Center to discuss options and plans for stopping the proposed Pacific Connector, a 3-foot diameter pipeline, 223-miles long, which could transmit 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Coos Bay to Malin 20 miles east of Klamath Falls.
Citing safety concerns, environmental concerns, non-consideration for alternative-energy options and detrimental effects to public and private property — the pipeline requires up to 100-foot wide easements in some cases — local residents expressed their dismay.
Meeting organizer Diane Phillips of Azalea said it’s time citizens put pressure on their state- and federal-level elected officials to put a stop to the proposal.
“We’re going to turn the heat up,” she said.
Besides urging elected officials, Phillips said participants are writing letters and are developing a legal defense strategy to help reinstate local and state authority over such projects that was trumped by the 2005 Energy Act.
“I still feel there’s a lot that can be done,” she said.
The pipeline would be jointly owned by the Williams Pacific Connector Gas Operator LLC, Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. and Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP.
Williams is expected to make a formal application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the pipeline early next year.
Construction for the pipeline is estimated to be around $800 million. It would transport natural gas from the proposed Jordan Cove Terminal in Coos Bay — which would convert liquefied natural gas back to its gaseous state — across Coos County, enter Douglas County west of Camas Valley, go between Winston and Myrtle Creek, and then turn southeast near Days Creek before making its way to the California border.
The LNG terminal is one of five proposed in Oregon, with four others proposed along the lower Columbia River.
Opponents of the Pacific Connector say its construction in Oregon is unjustified since it would mainly be built to supply California’s energy needs.
“I view this as a pipeline that has no benefits for Southern Oregon and not even California,” said David Lohman, an attorney who attended an anti-Pacific Connector meeting in Medford on Saturday.
Lohman said it’s time to consider clean energy for California in the future rather than fossil fuels.
If built, construction of the pipeline is expected to begin in summer 2009 and be completed in 2010.
FERC and Williams have each held open houses in the past to answer questions about the pipeline. A draft environmental statement for the pipeline is expected to be released by FERC next year.
For more information about the pipeline or FERC, go to www.williams.com or www.ferc.gov.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
