Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 28 -- A proposed LNG terminal outside Baltimore and its associated pipeline would have limited adverse environmental impacts, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's staff said in a draft environmental impact statement.
It said its conclusion was based on AES Corp.'s plan to build the terminal within an industrial port setting at Sparrows Point. The facility would be capable of storing up to 480,000 cu m of LNG with a baseload send-out rate of 1.5 bcfd of revaporized natural gas, FERC said.
Maryland state and local government officials have expressed opposition to the project, saying it would bring LNG tankers up Chesapeake Bay and potentially disrupt Baltimore Harbor vessel traffic. New York state officials raised similar points Apr. 10 when they rejected the proposed Broadwater LNG project in Long Island Sound.
FERC said the project in Maryland includes about 88 miles of 30-in. pipeline, which would follow existing rights of way for about 84.8% of its proposed route and end in Eagle, Pa. It said AES also would be required to develop and implement an emergency response plan, which involves state and local governments, includes cost-sharing and transit management plans, and meets requirement of the US Coast Guard, FERC, and state government agencies in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
The federal energy regulator said commissioners will consider staff recommendations and the final EIS when they make a final decision on the proposed project.
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