The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has prepared a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for Commonwealth LNG LLC’s 8.4-million tonne/year LNG plant, proposed for development in Cameron Parish, La. FERC staff concluded that approval of the proposed project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS, would result in some adverse environmental impacts.
Most of these impacts would be reduced to less than significant levels, but FERC staff concluded there would be significant impacts on visual resources and environmental justice communities. Environmental justice communities are those most impacted by environmental harms or risks.
In addition to the plant itself, the project would include two flare systems; six 50,000-cu m LNG storage tanks; one LNG carrier berth, a barge dock, and vessel maneuvering area; 3 miles of 42-in. OD pipeline including two interconnections with existing natural gas pipelines; and one metering station. The pipeline would ship 1.44 bcfd of gas to the plant.
Commonwealth LNG intends to close on development funding in second-quarter 2022 and expects full FERC approval by the end of the year. It would start construction in third-quarter 2023 to begin commercial operations by third-quarter 2026.
As part of its analysis, FERC staff developed specific mitigation measures that the Commission described as practical, appropriate, and reasonable for the construction and operation of the plant and included them in the draft EIS as recommendations, recommending that these mitigation measures be attached as conditions to any authorization eventually issued by FERC.
This EIS did not characterize the project’s greenhouse gas emissions as significant or insignificant, FERC describing the draft EIS as a generic proceeding to determine whether and how it will conduct significance determinations going forward.
The draft EIS comment period closes May 23, 2022. The Commission will take into consideration staff’s recommendations when it makes a decision on Commonwealth LNG.
