Dundalk-based activists fighting a company?s plans to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at a Sparrows Point shipyard are now wooing Virginia officials as potential allies.
An attorney for the LNG Opposition Team recently sent the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ? which ultimately will approve or deny the proposal ? a letter asking the agency to include Virginia in the pre-filing process as a stakeholder in the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia officials should have the opportunity to speak against any dredging the project would require, increased ship traffic and impacts on commercial and recreational fishing, the letter said.
“While input has been solicited from those affected by the proposed LNG facility and pipeline in Maryland, no such input has been solicited from the people or government officials of the state of Virginia,” wrote attorney Bart Fisher.
But one Virginia official said it?s too early to tell if they are interested in the plans proposed by Vienna-based energy firm AES Corp., which is proposing the terminal and an 87-mile pipeline through Baltimore and Harford counties into Pennsylvania. Director of the state?s Environmental Impacts Division Mike Murphy said the opposition team provided the only information he has on the project.
“Until we know more about the project, until we see the actual environmental impact document, we can?t say if we want to weigh in on it,” Murphy said.
“If the facility is built, there will be more ship traffic, and we will have to see they are taking appropriate measures while they are in Virginia waters.”
AES officials, who said they are “exploring options,” after the Baltimore County council passed legislation banning LNG terminals within five miles of a residential area, are expected to file their formal application with FERC in November.
