BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The long-delayed permitting process for a proposed expansion of the natural gas storage facility in salt domes beneath Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish is once again moving forward.
The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/Xl0Ous ) a public hearing on one of the three remaining state permits needed for the controversial project is set for Feb. 20 in New Iberia.
Atlanta-based AGL Resources is proposing to scour out two new salt caverns for natural gas storage at its Jefferson Island Storage & Hub Facility, expanding on the two storage caverns that have been there since the 1990s and more than doubling storage capacity.
Nara Crowley, a Lake Peigneur area resident who has been fighting the expansion, said she hopes state regulators will give the project a closer look in light of the ongoing issues with the large sinkhole believed to be related to a failed salt cavern at Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish.
“It should have an impact,” she said.
AGL, which is not connected to the sinkhole in Assumption Parish, will consider any lessons learned there, said Richard Hyde, managing director of government affairs for AGL.
“We are very cognizant of the situation that is going on in Bayou Corne,” Hyde said.
But he also said past tests have found no problems with the caverns at Lake Peigneur and no problems are expected with the new ones.
The permit at issue in the Feb. 20 public hearing is for dredging work needed to bring equipment into the lake for the cavern expansion work.
AGL needs two other state permits for the project — one to scour out caverns in the salt dome and another to use the scoured caverns for natural gas storage.
The state Department of Natural Resources plans to hold additional public hearings for each of those permits, DNR spokesman Patrick Courreges said.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
