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Plans for a new energy facility in Clatsop County are reigniting a longstanding controversy between opponents of liquefied natural gas and those seeking economic development in the coastal region.

The struggle began when a huge LNG terminal was planned for a piece of land known as Bradwood Landing, which is zoned for marine industrial use. That project was halted last year, but another is developing.

Plans for the new facility are being developed by John Dunzer, an unpaid consultant to the property owner, Ken Leahy. The proposed alternative energy farm would be smaller and more energy efficient than the previous scheme, a $650 million LNG terminal proposed by Houston-based NorthernStar Natural Gas, according to Dunzer.

鈥淚t takes a lot of guts to try to push another project through that same community,鈥� said Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council. 鈥淭hat site is well suited for economic development, but I think LNG has gotten itself a bad name because of the former project attempt, and I don’t think the concerns will go away just because this project is smaller.鈥�

NorthernStar proposed bringing giant LNG tankers 38 miles up the Columbia River, where the liquid gas would then be unloaded into two, 11-story storage tanks before being processed, and piped throughout the Pacific Northwest. After investing $100 million and years of regulatory work, NorthernStar ultimately went bankrupt and suspended its efforts at Bradwood Landing in May 2010.

鈥淥ur plan obviously replaces the project that was driven into bankruptcy by a lot of environmentalists and state officials over the last six years,鈥� Dunzer said. 鈥淥urs is quite different than the original facility, though, which was designed to be a regional supplier of natural gas and involved large ships and large pipelines.鈥�

Construction of the planned 55-acre facility would cost approximately $200 million.

Dunzer used the studies conducted by NorthernStar, which are now public record, to aid his research for the new facility. For example, the proposed tanks would be one-third the size of NorthernStar’s, small enough to fit in the Columbia River without dredging, with a capacity of 87,000 cubic meters of LNG.

鈥淚 wouldn’t be able to do this if not for fact that the original sponsor dumped millions of dollars doing environmental work and studies on this site before going bankrupt,鈥� Dunzer said. 鈥淭hey never even really got to first base; we’re further along than they were after spending all of that money.鈥�

After conversion of the LNG into natural gas, most of it would be transported to the Oregon community of Mist, or Port Westward via 11 miles of pipes.

The energy farm would not operate solely as an LNG plant, however. The plant also would harvest cold energy that is a byproduct of the extremely low temperatures used for transport of LNG. The cold energy would then be used in cryogenic carbon capture, a process that would freeze carbon dioxide coming out of LNG pipes so that it could then be transported.

鈥淭here’s a lot of energy to be saved in every process we have,鈥� Dunzer said, 鈥渨hether it be lightbulbs or window design, or this source of tremendous cold energy 鈥� if you harvest it, you can recover enough energy to operate a mill.鈥�

Dunzer hopes to work with Air Products and Chemicals Inc., an industrial gas supplier based in Pennsylvania, to develop the cryogenic technology on the site.

Although the plans for the facility are relatively detailed, a formal application has not been submitted to Clatsop County commissioners.

Dunzer and Leahy met with Clatsop County staffers in a pre-application meeting on June 21 to discuss the project and tentative site plan. Staffers presented a matrix of the permits and procedures required for the proposed project. The matrix includes two hearings and public review, but Dunzer is hoping to circumvent the process.

鈥淥ur strategy is to get everything to be absolutely permitted in a way that is not appealable by people like Columbia Riverkeepers,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can’t afford to have them appeal everything.鈥�

While Dunzer believes the project can be permitted in a way that requires only staff review, the county does not, Clatsop County Manager Duane Cole said.

The next steps remain unclear, but the community that united against NorthernStar is ready to oppose another facility if plans continue to move forward.

鈥淚f they actually file for something, of course we’ll be there to object,鈥� said Dan Serres, conservation director of Columbia Riverkeeper. 鈥淭he people of Clatsop County have been very clear that they don’t want to see Bradwood developed in that way 鈥� it’s incompatible with the community, the surrounding environment and the river.鈥�

The proposed project has received a letter of support from the Port of Astoria, however, based on the job opportunities that the facility would bring.

鈥淚 hope public opinion will change,鈥� said Jack Crider, executive director of the Port of Astoria. 鈥淚t really seems to be a better fit 鈥� it’s less intrusive 鈥� and it would bring economic improvement to Astoria, which is important to us.鈥�

Crider’s expectation is that the facility would bring 30 full-time, family-wage jobs in its initial stages, and also stimulate job creation in trucking, timber and other supporting industries.