The FERC staff prepared a final EIS for Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) Project in Oregon and Washington. The proposed Project would consist of an LNG import terminal located about 38 miles up the Columbia River from its mouth, in Clatsop County, Oregon, and a 36.3-mile-long sendout pipeline, crossing Clatsop and Columbia Counties Oregon and Cowlitz County, Washington, connecting the terminal with the existing Williams Northwest Pipeline Corporation interstate system near Kelso, Washington. The LNG terminal would have a sendout capacity of 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Along the pipeline route, would be interconnections and meter stations to deliver natural gas to the Georgia-Pacific Wauna paper mill, Northwest Natural Gas Corporation intrastate system, the Portland General Electric Beaver power plant, and Williams Northwest.
The final EIS was prepared in coordination with our cooperating agencies for the Project, which included the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Coast Guard (Coast Guard), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The FERC staff determined that if the proposed Project is approved and is constructed and operated in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and the project sponsor's proposed mitigation, and the staff's additional mitigation recommendations, it would have mostly limited adverse environmental impacts. The primary reasons that the FERC staff concludes the proposed Project would be an environmentally acceptable action are:
- The final engineering design for the LNG terminal would incorporate detailed seismic specifications and other measures to mitigate the impacts of seismic hazards, and mitigation measures would be implemented along the pipeline route to address landslides and other geological hazards;
- NorthernStar would implement its project-specific Erosion and Control Plans, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, and Wetland and Waterbody Construction and Mitigation Procedures Plan, and follow the FERC staff's Plan and Procedures to mitigate impacts on soils, wetlands, and water resources;
- NorthernStar would implement various mitigation plans to compensate for impacts on waterbodies, wetlands, vegetation, and habitats;
- Consultations with the COE, Coast Guard, National Marine Fishery Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of State Lands, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon and Washington State Historic Preservation Offices, and other appropriate agencies would be completed before NorthernStar would be allowed to begin construction;
- The proposed LNG terminal would meet the federal safety regulations regarding the thermal radiation and flammable vapor dispersion exclusion zones, and appropriate safety features would be incorporated into the design and operation of the LNG import terminal and LNG carriers;
- An environmental inspection and mitigation monitoring program would be implemented to ensure compliance with all mitigation measures that become conditions of any FERC authorization; and
- The conditions outlined in the Coast Guard Waterway Suitability Report would be implemented.
The FERC Commissioners will take into consideration the staff's recommendations and the final EIS when they make a decision on the Project.
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