120+ groups from across Maryland and the region urge Governor O’Malley to intervene; as first step, he must demand a federal “Environmental Impact Statement”

$3.8 billion industrial project would trigger the state’s biggest single source of global warming pollution, endanger local communities and the Chesapeake Bay, and ignite a new wave of fracking and pipelines

BALTIMORE—An unprecedented coalition of concerned citizens—from business leaders to watermen to environmentalists—announced its opposition Tuesday to a proposed $3.8 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County, Maryland. Standing outside the Public Service Commission office in downtown Baltimore, the group declared its intention to challenge an upcoming series of federal, state and local permits needed by Virginia-based Dominion Resources before it can begin construction. Against a backdrop of posters saying “No LNG Exports on Chesapeake Bay,” they unveiled a letter signed by more than 120 groups urging Governor Martin O’Malley to stand with them against the project, given the great harm it could inflict on Maryland communities, the climate and the Chesapeake Bay.

Coalition members said Governor O’Malley should, as a minimum first step, demand that the federal government prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that carefully considers the implications of building an LNG export terminal on the Chesapeake Bay. Much to the dismay of local citizens, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has indicated that it will only prepare an Environmental Assessment, which is a far less detailed impact review.

“The new gas lines, toxic chemicals, forest destruction and tanker traffic involved in Dominion’s export facility will risk the health and quality of life of communities along the Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River,” said Patuxent Riverkeeper Fred Tutman. “We’re asking Governor O’Malley to ensure a full and rigorous review of the consequences of this project. Our safety shouldn’t be sacrificed just so Dominion can sell gas to the highest overseas bidders.”

The activists launched their grassroots campaign outside the 5-member Public Service Commission (PSC), most of whom have been appointed by O’Malley, because the PSC is a key state agency reviewing Dominion’s application. The PSC will determine whether it is in Maryland’s best interest to allow Dominion to put in place the infrastructure—like an on-site 130 megawatt utility-scale power plant—needed to transform the largely defunct Cove Point import facility into a massive export terminal.

The detailed coalition letter to O’Malley outlines a chain reaction of harmful impacts that LNG exports through Maryland would likely trigger, including a new wave of fracking wells, pipelines and compressor stations across the region, higher energy prices for consumers, and staggering new levels of greenhouse gas pollution. An analysis of the lifecycle climate impact of Cove Point LNG exports shows the facility would become the state’s biggest trigger of heat-trapping pollution, exceeding the combined emissions of the state’s entire fleet of seven coal-fired power plants.

“Dominion’s plan is a global warming worst-case scenario for Maryland,” said Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Dominion is threatening to single-handedly derail Governor O’Malley’s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction plan. We simply can’t let an out-of-state company throw Maryland off track and worsen the impacts of extreme weather and sea-level rise already harming our families.”

Local speakers from Calvert County contended that, while Dominion has aggressively wooed support for its LNG export facility, it has left a vacuum of information on the health and safety risks to nearby residents. Governor O’Malley has a key role to play, they said, in ensuring that the project receives the highest level of scrutiny at every step.

“The more that my neighbors in Calvert County learn about the industrial scale of this project, the more questions we have,” said Jean Marie Neal, a member of the Cove of Calvert Homeowners Association. “Governor O’Malley, as our state’s top public official, should push federal regulators to complete a thorough environmental impact review, one that sheds light on the cumulative risks to our health, safety, and natural resources.”

“Those of us who depend on the Chesapeake Bay for our livelihoods deserve to have a say in this decision,” said Pete Ide, a Calvert County waterman and commercial boat captain. “I’ve witnessed firsthand how these massive LNG tankers spew clouds of pollution, contaminating the air in their path. We need a full accounting of the long-term economic and environmental harm that could come if Dominion turns the Bay into a channel for its export profits.”

While the Department of Energy granted Dominion conditional approval last week on its deals to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries, the Cove Point project is only in the initial stages of review by FERC and the PSC. The groups vowed to watchdog the process at every level, with initial hearings at the PSC expected in early 2014.

“Why would we spend billions in new fossil fuel infrastructure to help an out-of-state corporation ship gas to Asia? This is clearly not in Maryland’s interests,” said Josh Tulkin, director of the Sierra Club, Maryland Chapter. “Governor O’Malley and the Public Service Commission should see Dominion’s plan for what it is: a raw deal for our health, environment and families.”

“We’re proud to stand alongside this coalition and lend our legal expertise as they take on this dangerous project,” said Jocelyn D’Ambrosio, an attorney with Earthjustice, a public interest environmental law organization that is representing Sierra Club and a coalition of Waterkeepers who are concerned about the project’s impacts on regional waterways before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

View a copy of the coalition letter sent to Governor O’Malley today: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/file-uploads/kelly-trout/Cove_Point_Coalition_Letter_GovernorOMalley.pdf

View an analysis of the lifecycle greenhouse gas impact of Cove Point LNG exports: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/file-uploads/kelly-trout/Cove_Point_Lifecycle_Emissions_Factsheet.pdf

Contact:

Kelly Trout, 717-439-0346 (cell), 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

Mike Tidwell, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org

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