Hundreds of Baltimore County residents along with federal, state and local officials Monday urged a U.S. energy commission to deny plans for a liquefied natural gas plant atSparrows Point, blasting the approval process as prejudicial to energy firms.
Members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ? which ultimately will decide the fate of the a proposed $400 million LNG facility and 88-mile pipeline through Harford County ? heard testimony from scores of concerned residents and lawmakers.
Commission staff members earlier this year recommended conditional approval for the project, saying the project will have limited environmental and security impacts.
“Their report says it will have no impact on environmental life at the terminal,” said U.S. Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger, D-Md. “That?s because nothing could live at the LNG site. All aquatic life would be dead.”
Ruppersberger cited a U.S. Coast Guard report released in February that criticized Virginia-based energy company AES Corp. for not taking security risks “seriously.”
Under the company?s plans, tankers will import LNG to the terminal at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard, less than two miles from homes in the Turner?s Station community. At the facility, the gas will be re-vaporized and pumped via an 88-mile pipeline through Harford and into southern Pennsylvania.
Gov. Martin O?Malley?s administration was represented at the hearing in a packed Dundalk auditorium by Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin and Maryland Emergency Management Agency Director Richard Muth, who said tankers will require 12 hours to travel from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to the terminal by the Key Bridge.
“Twelve hours is a long time to hope for the best,” Muth said.
Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith took issue with the federal review process, which he said requires the commission to develop an environmental and safety impact report, then review it themselves. The commission identified more than 150 issues in its report, which AES can respond to after the public hearings, he said.
“AES gets to hear the people,” Smith said. “The people don?t get to hear AES.”
Jeers and boos met the sparse few who spoke in favor of the project.
Rupert Denney, president of the Maryland Maritime Association, said AES has agreed to let other commercial vessels use the terminal when an LNG tanker is not at berth.
“Where do you live?” someone in the crowd shouted.
The commission is expected to complete a final report by mid-August, and the commission could issue a final decision by the end of November. Public comments are due June 16.
