Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, July 12 -- A proposed LNG project in Florida would have limited adverse environmental impacts under recommended mitigation measures, the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded.
The Floridian Natural Gas Storage Project would be constructed 2 miles north of Indiantown in Martin County, Fla., and consist of an LNG storage, liquefaction, and vaporization facility. It also would include 4.2 miles of 12-in. incoming pipeline and 24-in. sendout pipeline extending from the storage facility to the Gulfstream and Florida Gas Transmission interstate pipelines, and a 2¾-acre metering and regulating station.
The more than $500 million project's sponsor is Floridian Natural Gas Storage Co. LLC (FNGS), a joint venture whose principals include J. Bradley Williams, a former Transco Energy Co. and Mobil Corp. official, and David W. Sharp, a former executive with Shell Oil Co. subsidiary Coral Energy. Warburg Pincus and Co., a private energy equity investor, also is a partner.
FERC said it based its conclusion on FNGS's plans to build the project on a former industrial site which consists primarily of disturbed land and invasive species, to place most of the pipeline alongside or on an existing right-of-way, and to implement an environmental inspection and monitoring program to ensure compliance with recommended mitigation measures.
FGS said that it hopes to open the facility during 2011. It also is seeking approvals from Florida's Department of Environmental protection, the South Florida Water Management District, and other state and Martin County agencies.
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