Baltimore County officials will consider legislation that would ban liquefied natural gas plants from certain environmentally sensitive areas, renewing legal strategies to thwart a proposed LNG terminal at the Sparrows Point shipyard.
Councilman John Olszewski, D-District 7, said he will introduce a bill Tuesday evening to add LNG terminals to a list of prohibited facilities in the county?s designated Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. The bill will be the council?s second specifically targeting a Virginia-based energy firm?s plans for a $400 million plant just off the Key Bridge, following a zoning change adopted in June that banned LNG facilities within five miles of a residential area.
“The other legislation was for the health and safety of residents,” said Olszewski, who represents the area closest to the shipyard. “This legislation will protect our coastal waterways. It?s just another safeguard for us and another hurdle they have to go through.”
The company, AES Corp., is challenging the zoning change in federal court and likely will appeal this one if adopted, said company spokesman Zack Gemroth. Attorneys for AES argued last week that the Natural Gas Act gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the exclusive authority to determine if and where LNG terminals are built.
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett said he would issue a ruling by the end of this week.
Olszewski said the new legislation is a joint effort between the council and County Executive Jim Smith, who has vocally opposed the proposal along with other elected officials at every level. A spokesman for Smith was unavailable Monday, a holiday.
Gemroth said the company submitted its formal application to FERC on Jan. 8. The company wants to offload super-chilled liquefied gas from tankers and revaporize it before sending it through an 87-mile pipeline into southern Pennsylvania.
