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ENLARGE
For decades, Douglas County has struggled to secure a new industrial base to supplement the declining timber industry. Our lack of new industry has caused us to have an unemployment rate of 16.2 percent, the second-highest rate of any county in the state. (Only Crook County was higher in June, with 20.6 percent unemployment, and a much smaller population.)
One of the difficulties we have faced in attracting new industry is the lack of a firm natural gas supply. Most industries need to be able to count on an uninterruptible energy supply in order to operate. The Northwest Pipeline that comes down the Willamette Valley into Douglas County has no additional firm contracting capacity. That means few new industries are interested in locating here. We have lost potential industries interested in Douglas County, in part because they could not locate firm gas supplies
There is a proposal on the horizon to correct that problem. The Jordan Cove Energy Project is a liquefied natural gas terminal that would be located in Coos Bay. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is simply natural gas from an overseas source that has been super cooled until it condenses into a liquid that occupies one-six hundredth of the space it does as a gas. This allows the gas to be shipped safely and economically across oceans. The Coos Bay terminal would receive LNG there and then warm that liquid back into ordinary natural gas and ship it over the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline to customers who want to buy it. The proposed route for this pipeline runs through Douglas County and would provide us with the firm gas supply that we lack to attract new industry. If we don't build the LNG terminal in Coos Bay and the pipeline, Douglas County will remain at the tail end of a very long, narrow pipe, last in line to get firm gas supplies.
There are other benefits from the pipeline project. The pipeline will take two years to build, and the terminal in Coos Bay will take 3 1/2 years. The pipeline construction will take place with five teams spread across the route from Coos Bay to Klamath County. The pipeline will employ an average of 1,400 people during those two years, and about half of those jobs are expected to be available to local people. Construction of the pipeline will also mean good things for motels, campgrounds, equipment suppliers, restaurants, and lots of other businesses that will serve the construction crews, giving needed stimulus to the local economy before the gas even starts to flow.
Because getting natural gas from Coos Bay would offer local customers a competitive supply of energy, we can expect gas prices to be lower in both Douglas County and the rest of the state than they otherwise would be. If we must get our gas only from sources in Canada and the Rocky Mountains, we can expect to pay more for it. In fact, an economic study concluded that the LNG terminal and gas pipeline would have the effect of stimulating an additional $488 million in economic output and nearly 1,200 permanent new jobs in Oregon, mostly as a result of lower natural gas prices. Much of that economic benefit would happen in Southern Oregon.
Right now, the LNG terminal and gas pipeline are in the permitting stage. Despite the benefits to Southern Oregon, this is not yet a sure thing. There are many federal, state, and local permits that must be obtained, including a conditional land use permit from Douglas County. The governor's opposition in the federal permitting process has not been helpful, either, but there is a lot of support in this part of the state. A public opinion survey done last year showed the terminal and pipeline have support in Coos, Douglas, Jackson, and Klamath Counties by more than a 3 to 1 margin.
I hope that the people of Douglas County will continue to show support for the LNG project and natural gas pipeline. They are very important for the economic future of our part of Oregon.
Perry Murray is a retired contractor, a Vietnam veteran and has been a resident of Douglas County for 46 years. He is also vice president of the Douglas County Industrial Development Board, which supports the Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas terminal and the Pacific Connector pipeline. He can be reached at perryleemurray@hotmail.com.
One of the difficulties we have faced in attracting new industry is the lack of a firm natural gas supply. Most industries need to be able to count on an uninterruptible energy supply in order to operate. The Northwest Pipeline that comes down the Willamette Valley into Douglas County has no additional firm contracting capacity. That means few new industries are interested in locating here. We have lost potential industries interested in Douglas County, in part because they could not locate firm gas supplies
There is a proposal on the horizon to correct that problem. The Jordan Cove Energy Project is a liquefied natural gas terminal that would be located in Coos Bay. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is simply natural gas from an overseas source that has been super cooled until it condenses into a liquid that occupies one-six hundredth of the space it does as a gas. This allows the gas to be shipped safely and economically across oceans. The Coos Bay terminal would receive LNG there and then warm that liquid back into ordinary natural gas and ship it over the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline to customers who want to buy it. The proposed route for this pipeline runs through Douglas County and would provide us with the firm gas supply that we lack to attract new industry. If we don't build the LNG terminal in Coos Bay and the pipeline, Douglas County will remain at the tail end of a very long, narrow pipe, last in line to get firm gas supplies.
There are other benefits from the pipeline project. The pipeline will take two years to build, and the terminal in Coos Bay will take 3 1/2 years. The pipeline construction will take place with five teams spread across the route from Coos Bay to Klamath County. The pipeline will employ an average of 1,400 people during those two years, and about half of those jobs are expected to be available to local people. Construction of the pipeline will also mean good things for motels, campgrounds, equipment suppliers, restaurants, and lots of other businesses that will serve the construction crews, giving needed stimulus to the local economy before the gas even starts to flow.
Because getting natural gas from Coos Bay would offer local customers a competitive supply of energy, we can expect gas prices to be lower in both Douglas County and the rest of the state than they otherwise would be. If we must get our gas only from sources in Canada and the Rocky Mountains, we can expect to pay more for it. In fact, an economic study concluded that the LNG terminal and gas pipeline would have the effect of stimulating an additional $488 million in economic output and nearly 1,200 permanent new jobs in Oregon, mostly as a result of lower natural gas prices. Much of that economic benefit would happen in Southern Oregon.
Right now, the LNG terminal and gas pipeline are in the permitting stage. Despite the benefits to Southern Oregon, this is not yet a sure thing. There are many federal, state, and local permits that must be obtained, including a conditional land use permit from Douglas County. The governor's opposition in the federal permitting process has not been helpful, either, but there is a lot of support in this part of the state. A public opinion survey done last year showed the terminal and pipeline have support in Coos, Douglas, Jackson, and Klamath Counties by more than a 3 to 1 margin.
I hope that the people of Douglas County will continue to show support for the LNG project and natural gas pipeline. They are very important for the economic future of our part of Oregon.
Perry Murray is a retired contractor, a Vietnam veteran and has been a resident of Douglas County for 46 years. He is also vice president of the Douglas County Industrial Development Board, which supports the Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas terminal and the Pacific Connector pipeline. He can be reached at perryleemurray@hotmail.com.
