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Bob Braddock is planning what he says will be the largest capital construction project in Oregon history 鈥� with a cost exceeding even Intel’s $4 billion D1X project in Hillsboro.

The $7.5 billion project involves construction of a liquefied natural gas export facility on a mile-long spit of land in Coos Bay. The effort to secure permits and federal authorization is complex, but Braddock, vice president and project manager of Jordan Cove 鈥� a limited partnership owned primarily by Canadian energy infrastructure company Veresen Inc. 鈥� said the process to create liquefied natural gas is much simpler.

鈥淭he innards in a refrigerator are very similar to this,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou just bring it down to much colder temperatures.鈥�

At minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit, natural gas becomes a liquid and 600 times denser than compressed gas, making transport more cost efficient. Jordan Cove hopes to capitalize on the glut of natural gas created by recent advancements in shale fracking technology and send it to Asian countries where demand is surging.

The permitting process may last another year or so, but if the project were to move forward, it could produce thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars for economically depressed Coos County. Meanwhile, opponents contend that the proposed site is seismically unsuitable and poses physical and financial risks to the community.

Jody McCaffree, executive director of a group called Citizens Against LNG, said the planned site is essentially a sand bar where dredging spoils have been stockpiled for years. She said it could be inundated by a major tsunami, and that a breach of the plant or a ship spill could result in a three-mile-wide explosion.

鈥淚t would be so hot it would melt steel at 1,200 feet,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat will hurt people is not the flame but the heat-flux level would be so hot that up to a mile away people would be at risk of receiving second degree burns in 30 seconds if they didn’t get to shelter.鈥�

Braddock said the company has done extensive seismic modeling with Oregon Health and Sciences University’s Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction. Plans call for raising the entire site 20 feet on densely compacted sand to 40 feet above sea level. Sand, he said, does not liquefy in an earthquake.

Nevertheless, McCaffree, who operates an electrical company in North Bend, would prefer that the community invest in energy like wind power, which she believes is infinitely more sustainable. Elise Hamner, communications manager for the Port of Coos Bay, said the port is working on a wind power demonstration project, but added that it hinges on Jordan Cove’s participation.

Jordan Cove’s overall project envisions construction of a 230-mile-long pipeline to transport natural gas over the Cascade Mountains; a power plant to fuel the cooling process; two 150-foot-tall concrete tanks capable of processing 6 million metric tons of LNG; and a new marina.

Hamner said that Jordan Cove would cover 85 percent of the cost for the new terminal that would serve both LNG carriers and other commodity transporters. One company hopes to use that terminal to launch five energy-producing wind platforms in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 12 miles off of the Coos Bay coastline.

At 37 feet deep, the navigational channel can’t accommodate the massive buoys that would house the wind turbines. So, Jordan Cove also will help pay for a project to widen and deepen the channel.

Hamner said Jordan Cove has agreed to buy the energy produced by the turbines, and that greenhouse gas mitigation money from the energy project would be used to pay for the transmission lines that run between the buoys and the plant.

That project, which Hamner hopes to announce officially soon, won’t happen without Jordan Cove’s LNG project. She added that more researchers are looking at LNG as a possible alternative to diesel fuel for maritime vessels and that Jordan Cove could transform Coos Bay into a regional fueling hub.

LNG is a far greener option than other fossil fuels, she said.

鈥淭he reality is green power is expensive and to do it on a large enough scale that you can produce the power that society needs, it takes big projects,鈥� Hamner said. 鈥淎nd they don’t always make money without having a public infusion of cash.

鈥淭he other issue is we have huge power demands in this country. We’re not going to switch (to green power) over night.鈥�

Braddock said the terminal construction project alone could create 2,900 jobs at its peak; the pipeline would generate another 1,000. The eventual facility would rely on between 120 and 160 permanent employees. Development also would require construction of a regional safety center for emergency responders.

鈥淚t would make a significant impact,鈥� said Terence O’Connor, North Bend city administrator, 鈥渆specially if you say those (2,900) jobs come with other people attached that don’t work but are part of the family unit. You’re talking an interesting increase in population for this whole area.鈥�

O’Connor said that in the 1970s, approximately 12 cargo ships would sail in and out of the port every month; today, few do. The LNG plant would introduce 90 ships to the bay each year.

But McCaffree has concerns. Jordan Cove in 2004 introduced the project as an import facility, but switched its plans in the wake of advances in fracking. McCaffree thinks that change is reckless.

鈥淲e need to change our mindset about what we’re doing so that jobs are sustainable,鈥� she said. 鈥淥therwise you’ve just got this boom and bust that’s going to hurt us in the end.鈥�

Braddock said Jordan Cove is in final negotiations with two commercial candidates vying to operate the LNG facility for at least 20 years. Jordan Cove is seeking approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Braddock hopes a go-ahead will be given by the end of 2013. Construction could start by 2014.

FERC recently requested clarification from Jordan Cove concerning 17 items in its proposal, including how the export terminal would withstand a seismic event and a related tsunami. Braddock said that answering such questions is part of the process.

鈥淥ne does not build this on spec,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll the pieces have to be in place. It won’t be built until the permits are in place and our customer has signed the contract for a minimum of 20 years.鈥�