Bradwood Landing Defeat Shifts Focus to Remaining LNG Proposals

In the wake of news that backers of the proposed Bradwood Landing LNG project had finally pulled out due to ongoing delays, LNG opponents hope to see similar success with the other two proposed projects.

Brett Vandenheuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, characterized the Bradwood news as indication that “LNG has no place in Oregon,” and noted that opposition wasn’t coming just from grassroots groups but from state agencies, reported the Associated Press.

However, state officials and industry suggested that the Bradwood project faced unique obstacles related to its siting as well as its approach to regulatory issues. The site was in potentially critical salmon habitat, and many regarded the company’s proposed measures to mitigate impacts on salmon as inadequate.

Further, county planners had argued that the project was inconsistent with county land use law from the beginning.  The company may have also created its own problems by trying to push through regulatory hurdles instead of redesigning project elements that didn't conform to local land use laws.

Bradwood’s defeat could be regarded as good news for developers of those remaining projects, who now face less competition. But it could also allow opposition groups to focus their energies more closely on the remaining proposals.

The commercial outlook for LNG projects is itself uncertain, with domestic gas supply high, prices low, and an economic climate that is pinching investment.  In addition, a pending new pipeline from Wyoming could increase the availability of domestic natural gas in the region, making foreign gas imports even less necessary.

Despite these factors, Oregon LNG’s chief executive officer, Peter Hansen, suggested that natural gas demand would still rise over time—and the project manager for Jordan Cove, Bob Braddock, agrees. Braddock added that the Wyoming pipeline wouldn’t adequately serve the region because it wouldn’t reach the I-5 corridor.

The remaining two projects are slated for very different sites, with the Oregon LNG project set to build directly on the Columbia River and the Jordan Cove project requiring a long pipeline route to deliver imports to a connection in California.

Oregon LNG, which is still relatively early in its permitting process, faces public safety concerns over its proximity to the city of Astoria—as well as the continued fallout of a controversial lease arrangement.

State officials, including Gov. Kulongoski, have expressed dissatisfaction both with the way the 2005 energy bill removed state authority over project siting and with the fact that the FERC doesn’t take the need for new resources into account during its evaluation of proposed projects.

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