Jordan Cove DSL Comment Deadline

Coos Bay's North Spit, with Roseburg Forest Product's chip export facility in foreground and Jordan Cove beyond that.\Photo by Alex Derr.

Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL) is considering the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s application for a removal-fill permit for its proposed LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit, and the pipeline that will carry fracked gas across Oregon to the facility.  This is just one of many hoops that project will have to jump through before it can proceed, which is also to say that it is one of many choke points at which it can be stopped.

Oregon Shores is working with our partners in the anti-LNG coalition to submit very detailed, formal arguments before the deadline.  But individuals can also comment, up to 5 p.m. on Feb. 3.  To be sure that comments will be received on time, it is best to submit comments online.  DSL’s website has a page that provides background on the project and its timeline and explains how to comment: https://www.oregon.gov/dsl/WW/Pages/jordancove.aspx.

There are a wide range of technical grounds on which to oppose the project, ranging from inadequate disposal sites for dredge fill, to the unproven nature of the proposed plan for drilling under the bay for the pipeline, to the effects that pipeline construction will have on aquatic habitat in the hundreds of streams it will cross.  But for Oregon Shores members, the key concerns are likely to be impact to the bay bottom habitat and liberated of sediment and buried toxins into the estuary while dredging; destructions of mudflat, saltmarsh, and freshwater marsh habitats; impacts on a wide range of species, including protected populations of salmon and sturgeon; and impacts to the local oyster industry.

Oregon Shores’ Coastal Law Project (a partnership with the Crag Law Center) has created a briefing paper for concerned citizens, which includes talking points.  See also our website article on the subject for background information.