A state environmental agency appears poised to deny approval of a Baltimore County ordinance seeking to ban a proposed liquid natural gas plant at Sparrows Point.
A panel of the state?s Critical Area Commission earlier this month halted its review of a county zoning law that adds LNG terminals to a list of facilities banned within 1,000 feet of sensitive Chesapeake Bay wetlands. The decision, commission director Ren Serey said, came at the request of county officials who anticipated a denial and after a subpanel unanimously voted to recommend denial to the full commission.
The commission must approve the ordinance before the county can enforce it, Serey said.
“The county asked the commission to put it on hold,” Serey said. “The time clock stops running, and there was no formal discussion of the matter.”
County officials declined comment, as did representatives of the company proposing the plant, Virginia-based AES Corp.
AES already successfully fought the law in federal court in February, when Judge Richard Bennett chastised the county for passing the law without seeking approval from the commission and without the usual 45-day waiting period before laws take effect. He said the Natural Gas Act pre-empts local laws, giving the Federal Regulatory Commission the sole authority to determine LNG siting.
County officials hope to thwart a $400 million facility near the Key Bridge, arguing that the massive LNG tankers could disrupt wildlife, affect water quality and pose terrorism threats.
Those potential effects were acknowledged in a commission report issued after the subpanel vote.
“The panel discussed the public testimony and noted they are not discounting the concerns of the citizens and the county regarding the numerous and serious potential environmental impacts associated with siting an LNG facility at Sparrows Point,” the report says. “However, the panel believed that, due to its discussions of the federal issues identified above, the panel?s decision could not be based on these considerations.”
Lawmakers at every level have expressed vocal opposition to the gas plant proposal. U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, both Maryland Democrats, recently introduced legislation that would give states veto power of federal LNG approvals.
