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Opponents of the proposed Pacific Connector liquefied natural gas pipeline that would run through Southern Oregon have not had any luck so far stopping the project.
However, the Douglas County Planning Commission ensured on Thursday evening that the proposed Jordan Cove terminal at Coos Bay will not be engineered to export natural gas to other countries.
The commission voted 3-1 to approve a conditional use permit and a designation as a utility facility necessary for public service that will allow the pipeline to be constructed along a 7.3-mile section of land at Camas Valley.
“We were satisfied with the vote,” said Derrick Welling, project manager for Williams, one of the pipeline partners, on the approval and the extra condition. “It has no impact to us at all.”
Francis Eatherington, who owns property along the proposed route near Days Creek, said that although she opposes the pipeline she was happy with the export prohibition.
“I would hate to see them condemn my property and then turn around and then export the gas afterward,” Eatherington said.
The territory for a portion of the 230-mile pipeline between Coos Bay and Malin is contained within the Coastal Zone Management Area and required special approval because of the sensitivity of the coastal environment, even though Camas Valley is 60 miles from the coast.
Commissioner Bill Duckett added a condition into the special use permit requiring that the section of pipeline going through the Coastal Zone Management Area be used only to import natural gas and not to export it.
“Since it is (to be) established to bring and meet the needs of the U.S., then it should be just for that purpose alone,” Duckett said.
It took three votes before the commission eventually approved the application. On the first vote, Duckett was the only commissioner to vote in favor of the proposal, after the addition of the extra condition. Commissioners Rich Raynor, Brian Parkinson and Cindy Simmons voted against it.
Parkinson, who said he didn't think it was relevant whether the gas in the line was ultimately used for import or export, then moved to approve the application with the extra condition removed. However, that motion died for lack of a second.
After further discussion, Raynor seconded a move by Parkinson for the same motion. That motion failed by a 2-2 vote after Duckett and Simmons voted no.
Duckett then asked for reconsideration of his original motion. Raynor, the commission chairman who also believed it shouldn't matter how the gas was used, said he would vote in favor just to get the application approved. It passed, with Simmons casting the lone no vote that time.
Simmons said she didn't like that the companies behind the pipeline could use eminent domain to condemn property if the affected landowners along the route didn't agree with their offers of compensation.
Commissioners Javier Goirigolzarri and George Sandberg did not take part in the discussion or vote. Goirigolzarri did not attend an earlier hearing on the matter and Sandberg was attending his first meeting after appointment to the commission.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
However, the Douglas County Planning Commission ensured on Thursday evening that the proposed Jordan Cove terminal at Coos Bay will not be engineered to export natural gas to other countries.
The commission voted 3-1 to approve a conditional use permit and a designation as a utility facility necessary for public service that will allow the pipeline to be constructed along a 7.3-mile section of land at Camas Valley.
“We were satisfied with the vote,” said Derrick Welling, project manager for Williams, one of the pipeline partners, on the approval and the extra condition. “It has no impact to us at all.”
Francis Eatherington, who owns property along the proposed route near Days Creek, said that although she opposes the pipeline she was happy with the export prohibition.
“I would hate to see them condemn my property and then turn around and then export the gas afterward,” Eatherington said.
The territory for a portion of the 230-mile pipeline between Coos Bay and Malin is contained within the Coastal Zone Management Area and required special approval because of the sensitivity of the coastal environment, even though Camas Valley is 60 miles from the coast.
Commissioner Bill Duckett added a condition into the special use permit requiring that the section of pipeline going through the Coastal Zone Management Area be used only to import natural gas and not to export it.
“Since it is (to be) established to bring and meet the needs of the U.S., then it should be just for that purpose alone,” Duckett said.
It took three votes before the commission eventually approved the application. On the first vote, Duckett was the only commissioner to vote in favor of the proposal, after the addition of the extra condition. Commissioners Rich Raynor, Brian Parkinson and Cindy Simmons voted against it.
Parkinson, who said he didn't think it was relevant whether the gas in the line was ultimately used for import or export, then moved to approve the application with the extra condition removed. However, that motion died for lack of a second.
After further discussion, Raynor seconded a move by Parkinson for the same motion. That motion failed by a 2-2 vote after Duckett and Simmons voted no.
Duckett then asked for reconsideration of his original motion. Raynor, the commission chairman who also believed it shouldn't matter how the gas was used, said he would vote in favor just to get the application approved. It passed, with Simmons casting the lone no vote that time.
Simmons said she didn't like that the companies behind the pipeline could use eminent domain to condemn property if the affected landowners along the route didn't agree with their offers of compensation.
Commissioners Javier Goirigolzarri and George Sandberg did not take part in the discussion or vote. Goirigolzarri did not attend an earlier hearing on the matter and Sandberg was attending his first meeting after appointment to the commission.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
