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CANYONVILLE — Despite the potential for a clash between placard-waving opponents of a natural gas pipeline through Western Oregon and its hopeful developers, dueling meetings Tuesday night in two adjacent rooms at Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort were muted and eventually became one.
The proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline L.P., which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could certify within the year, was represented by company officials at a public informational meeting, while opponents of the project held their public rally next door.
About 50 to 60 people — many wearing buttons or T-shirts with the letters “LNG” crossed out — mingled with Pacific Connector officials manning informational kiosks. Those attending the informational meeting asked about the potential for leaks on a pipeline projected to carry 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas underground each day, and about depreciating property values in the right of way.
“Why should it come up through us to go and benefit California?” asked Ron Clack, echoing the sentiments of many in attendance who were concerned about the pipeline and its 100-foot easement. The project would require clear-cutting a half-mile-long strip of timber from Clack’s 200 acres north of Myrtle Creek.
The pipeline’s designer and one-third owner, Williams Cos. Inc., based in Tulsa, Okla., employs the majority of the representatives who were at Tuesday night’s meeting.
For those interested in what the steel pipe itself would look like, a very short piece, about four inches long but nearly waist high, stood next to a table inside the Pacific Connector meeting room. It had handles bolted on top for easy transport but was easily heavy enough to require two men to carry it.
Lattin said the piece, complete with a full-circumference weld and coating inside and out, is representative of the 80-foot joints that Williams would use to construct the pipeline. He added that Williams X-rays 100 percent of its welds, though the Pipeline Hazardous Material Administration requires only 10 percent of welds to be X-rayed.
When the pipe is installed and pieced together, Lattin said it would be filled with water and pressurized beyond required levels to test for leaks.
“You can have pipe in the ground for 50 years that looks as good as the day you put it in there,” he said.
Pending certificate approval by the FERC, the Pacific Connector could begin construction as early as 2010. Lattin said completion would take about two years depending on the start date, since the bulk of work would have to be done during the dry season.
The Jordan Cove Energy Project L.P. of Coos Bay and the Pacific Connector are one of three proposed liquefied natural gas terminals and pipeline projects in Western Oregon that would deliver natural gas to markets in the Northwest and California. The other two are at Bradwood Landing on the Columbia River and in Astoria.
All three projects, however, are in the FERC’s application process for certification, which requires an approved environmental impact statement. Though all three projects might be approved by the FERC, energy developers say the market may not support more than one natural gas pipeline project.
“We don’t believe more than one LNG plant will be built,” said Dan Lattin, project manager of the Pacific Connector since August 2007.
It had been expected that the FERC would issue Jordan Cove and the Pacific Connector a draft environmental impact statement on the projects by early 2008. But that timeline was suggested by the energy developers.
A spokeswoman for the federal agency said in an e-mail that the agency is still waiting for complete responses from the applicants to data requests for environmental impacts.
“FERC staff is working diligently on the document and will issue it after it receives the necessary data from Jordan Cove,” wrote FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen.
Lattin said his company is still conducting environmental surveys and is just getting started this year as snow remains at higher elevations.
From the Jordan Cove terminal, where shipped-in liquefied natural gas would be re-gasified, the Pacific Connector’s 36-inch transmission line would be buried across 230 miles of Southern Oregon to a main hub in Malin. There, on the California border, it would tie in with three other natural gas transmission lines for dispersal to other markets.
Along the way, it would cross about 55 miles of Douglas County, including protected habitat in federal forests, rivers and streams, grazing lands and vineyards.
From Coos Bay, the pipeline would run about five miles north of Coquille before passing between Tenmile and Ben Irving Reservoir, then travel under Interstate 5 and curve southeast about four miles north of Myrtle Creek. It would then pass a couple of miles above Shady Cove and about four miles south of Klamath Falls before tying in at the hub in Malin.
The pipeline would pass through difficult and loose terrain in the Tiller Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest. Wes Yamamoto, interim pipeline project manager for the U.S. Forest Service, said the agency is still trying to “micro-site” the pipeline route with Williams and learn more about temporary work areas and stockpiles of leftover timber and earth.
“It’s an ongoing discussion we’re having with the company,” he said.
Yamamoto said the Forest Service has requested the Pacific Connector follow existing roads. But routing specialists, such as Shannon Jeffries from Williams, said it’s better to go directly up a mountain face for stability and safety reasons, rather than along the side of a mountain where roads usually occur.
As for the open house, Lattin said it was an opportune time to provide more factual information to the public and to “calm concerns.”
For more information on the Pacific Connector and Jordan Cove, visit www.pacificconnectorgp.com.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
The proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline L.P., which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could certify within the year, was represented by company officials at a public informational meeting, while opponents of the project held their public rally next door.
About 50 to 60 people — many wearing buttons or T-shirts with the letters “LNG” crossed out — mingled with Pacific Connector officials manning informational kiosks. Those attending the informational meeting asked about the potential for leaks on a pipeline projected to carry 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas underground each day, and about depreciating property values in the right of way.
“Why should it come up through us to go and benefit California?” asked Ron Clack, echoing the sentiments of many in attendance who were concerned about the pipeline and its 100-foot easement. The project would require clear-cutting a half-mile-long strip of timber from Clack’s 200 acres north of Myrtle Creek.
The pipeline’s designer and one-third owner, Williams Cos. Inc., based in Tulsa, Okla., employs the majority of the representatives who were at Tuesday night’s meeting.
For those interested in what the steel pipe itself would look like, a very short piece, about four inches long but nearly waist high, stood next to a table inside the Pacific Connector meeting room. It had handles bolted on top for easy transport but was easily heavy enough to require two men to carry it.
Lattin said the piece, complete with a full-circumference weld and coating inside and out, is representative of the 80-foot joints that Williams would use to construct the pipeline. He added that Williams X-rays 100 percent of its welds, though the Pipeline Hazardous Material Administration requires only 10 percent of welds to be X-rayed.
When the pipe is installed and pieced together, Lattin said it would be filled with water and pressurized beyond required levels to test for leaks.
“You can have pipe in the ground for 50 years that looks as good as the day you put it in there,” he said.
Pending certificate approval by the FERC, the Pacific Connector could begin construction as early as 2010. Lattin said completion would take about two years depending on the start date, since the bulk of work would have to be done during the dry season.
The Jordan Cove Energy Project L.P. of Coos Bay and the Pacific Connector are one of three proposed liquefied natural gas terminals and pipeline projects in Western Oregon that would deliver natural gas to markets in the Northwest and California. The other two are at Bradwood Landing on the Columbia River and in Astoria.
All three projects, however, are in the FERC’s application process for certification, which requires an approved environmental impact statement. Though all three projects might be approved by the FERC, energy developers say the market may not support more than one natural gas pipeline project.
“We don’t believe more than one LNG plant will be built,” said Dan Lattin, project manager of the Pacific Connector since August 2007.
It had been expected that the FERC would issue Jordan Cove and the Pacific Connector a draft environmental impact statement on the projects by early 2008. But that timeline was suggested by the energy developers.
A spokeswoman for the federal agency said in an e-mail that the agency is still waiting for complete responses from the applicants to data requests for environmental impacts.
“FERC staff is working diligently on the document and will issue it after it receives the necessary data from Jordan Cove,” wrote FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen.
Lattin said his company is still conducting environmental surveys and is just getting started this year as snow remains at higher elevations.
From the Jordan Cove terminal, where shipped-in liquefied natural gas would be re-gasified, the Pacific Connector’s 36-inch transmission line would be buried across 230 miles of Southern Oregon to a main hub in Malin. There, on the California border, it would tie in with three other natural gas transmission lines for dispersal to other markets.
Along the way, it would cross about 55 miles of Douglas County, including protected habitat in federal forests, rivers and streams, grazing lands and vineyards.
From Coos Bay, the pipeline would run about five miles north of Coquille before passing between Tenmile and Ben Irving Reservoir, then travel under Interstate 5 and curve southeast about four miles north of Myrtle Creek. It would then pass a couple of miles above Shady Cove and about four miles south of Klamath Falls before tying in at the hub in Malin.
The pipeline would pass through difficult and loose terrain in the Tiller Ranger District of the Umpqua National Forest. Wes Yamamoto, interim pipeline project manager for the U.S. Forest Service, said the agency is still trying to “micro-site” the pipeline route with Williams and learn more about temporary work areas and stockpiles of leftover timber and earth.
“It’s an ongoing discussion we’re having with the company,” he said.
Yamamoto said the Forest Service has requested the Pacific Connector follow existing roads. But routing specialists, such as Shannon Jeffries from Williams, said it’s better to go directly up a mountain face for stability and safety reasons, rather than along the side of a mountain where roads usually occur.
As for the open house, Lattin said it was an opportune time to provide more factual information to the public and to “calm concerns.”
For more information on the Pacific Connector and Jordan Cove, visit www.pacificconnectorgp.com.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
