Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 2 -- 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 as much as 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 on 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 terminate in Eagle, Pa. AES 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 government agencies in Maryland and Pennsylvania as well as at the federal level.
The federal energy regulator said that commissioners will consider staff recommendations and the final EIS when they make a final decision on the proposed project.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].