For Immediate Release
June 12, 2014
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, 240-396-2022, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
CCAN Condemns Federal Failure to Extend Cove Point Public Comment Period
WASHINGTON, DC–Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, issued the following statement in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s refusal to extend the public comment period on its Environmental Assessment for the proposed Cove Point liquefied natural gas export facility:
“The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday failed the Maryland public and the nation by refusing to grant more time for the public to comment on the controversial Cove Point proposal to export fracked gas to Asia through the Chesapeake Bay. FERC blatantly ignored pleas from the Environmental Protection Agency, Maryland’s two U.S. senators and two Congressional House Members, to give the public 30 more days to digest the complex and legally controversial ‘Environmental Assessment’ that FERC issued for Cove Point on May 15th. Environmental and community groups had been asking for a 60-day extension of the comment period. That period will now end June 16th after barely a month for public review.
“This action is yet another example of FERC’s unresponsive and detached culture of lax regulation that — at every step — is designed to minimize public involvement in massive and often dangerous fossil fuel projects. Failing to grant just 30 additional days of comment on the Cove Point assessment — despite direct appeals from the nation’s leading environmental agency and Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin — is a further sign that FERC is an alarmingly non-responsive commission in desperate need of reform.
“The FERC decision this week was also a rebuff of Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, who has supported the huge fracked gas export plant in his district while assuring concerned citizens there would be maximum public input. Congressman Hoyer, along with Congressman Chris Van Hollen, had also formally requested a 30-day extension of the comment period from FERC. Opponents of the Cove Point proposal continue to call on FERC to finally reject this project, and legal remedy will likely be sought if the commission approves the project based on their limited environmental review process.”
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