State lawmakers from Prince George’s County continued working to keep a potentially dangerous liquefied natural gas facility out of Chillum, but their efforts late Monday appeared doomed.
A bill making it harder for Washington Gas to get county approval to build the facility failed to pass the Senate Finance Committee on Friday, dealing a devastating blow to opponents of the proposal.
Other similar legislation was effectively killed when the Montgomery County Senate delegation Monday failed to approve its portion of a separate legislative package, effectively crippling efforts to block the facility.
County lawmakers say they are concerned the proposed facility is more volatile than a regular natural gas facility, though Washington Gas says it would take proper precautions. Washington Gas says it needs the facility to avoid a statewide gas shortage during very cold weather.
Prince George’s County lawmakers planned to hold hostage a bill involving local wineries that is important to those who voted against the liquefied natural gas legislation. County delegates also planned to revive the legislation by attaching it as an amendment to a bill that was up for a final vote after press time, according to several legislators and lobbyists.
The bill targeted for amendment would create a task force to study liquefied natural gas facilities in Baltimore County. Del. Dereck Davis, who crafted the bill to make approval tougher, did not support the amendment approach and was not optimistic about its chances.
“I’m probably going to resist that,” said Davis, D-Prince George’s. “[The Baltimore County] bill is just a task force, and I don’t think Baltimore County should lose their task force on an unrelated matter.”
LNG INFO
If the LNG facility can’t be built, Washington Gas will have to build a gas line to Montgomery County. The line would cost $400 million more than the LNG facility. The cost to customers would be about $13 more per year.
