A U.S. Coast Guard report calling the Chesapeake Bay unsuitable for liquefied natural gas tankers should end an energy company?s quest to place an LNG facility in Baltimore County?s Sparrows Point, state and federal officials said Wednesday.
The report, released Wednesday morning, prompted victory cries from government officials including Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger and Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, both of whom have vocally opposed the proposal from Virginia-based power company AES Corp.
“Today?s report should end once and for all the debate over whether or not eastern Baltimore County and the Chesapeake Bay are safe and secure locations for an LNG plant,” Smith said in a statement. “In light of the Coast Guard?s most recent analysis, the answer is an emphatic no.”
The Coast Guard?s report, however, did say the Bay “can be made suitable.”
AES is proposing a $400 million facility near the Key Bridge, where LNG would arrive on tankers, be revaporized and sent via an 87-mile pipeline potentially through Harford County into southern Pennsylvania.
The proposal would require a combination of armed security zones, ship escorts, shore-side surveillance patrols, aerial reconnaissance, video surveillance, and periodic use of divers, according to the report. The Coast Guard submits the report to the federal agency that ultimately approves and denies LNG plans.
AES is confident those conditions can be met, project director Kent Morton said in a statement.
“AES looks forward to continue to work with the Coast Guard as we move forward with our efforts to bring more clean-burning natural gas to Maryland and the mid-Atlantic region,” Morton said.
State and local officials said the plant, less than 1 mile from Baltimore County?s Dundalk community, could be an attractive target for terrorism. Baltimore County?s Council passed a law adding LNG terminals toa list of banned facilities in sensitive Bay corridors including Sparrows Point.
AES has filed lawsuits challenging the law.
Gov. Martin O?Malley had not yet reviewed the complete report but has been one of the most vocal opponents to the terminal, spokesman Rick Abbruzzese said.
“The governor has been opposed to this project from the beginning, citing homeland security and public safety concerns, not to mention the potential impact the project would have on the environment,” Abbruzzese said.
