By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. government has taken a step toward approving the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest — a move opposed by environmentalists and the attorneys general of Oregon, California and Washington state.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, announced Friday it has completed an environmental impact statement that concluded the project “would result in limited adverse impacts on the environment.”

“Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term,” the federal agency said.

A grassroots coalition of environmental groups said the analysis conflicts with climate goals of Pacific Northwest states and fails “to address upstream methane emissions from the harmful practice of fracking.”

The Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline belongs to TC Energy of Calgary, Canada — the same company behind the now-abandoned Keystone XL crude oil pipeline.

Gas Transmission Northwest proposes to modify three existing compressor stations along the pipeline — in Kootenai County, Idaho; Walla Walla County, Washington; and Sherman County, Oregon — to boost capacity by about 150 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. The company says the project is necessary to meet consumer demand.

The 1,377-mile pipeline runs from the Canadian border, through a corner of Idaho, and into Washington state and Oregon, connecting with a pipeline going into California.

In August, the attorneys general of Oregon, Washington state and California asked the FERC to deny the proposal, saying the expansion is expected to result in more than 3.24 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year, including methane and carbon dioxide.

“This project undermines Washington state’s efforts to fight climate change,” Washington state Attorney General Ferguson said back then. “This pipeline is bad for the environment and bad for consumers.”

The grassroots coalition said the federal study didn’t adequately address harmful impacts on the climate caused by the project, including by fracking to obtain the natural gas. The energy industry uses the technique to extract oil and gas from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals. But the technique increases emissions of methane, an extraordinarily potent greenhouse gas.

“FERC’s approach will worsen the climate crisis, downplaying the impacts of a proposal that will pollute our communities, impact health and safety, and create millions of tons of climate-changing pollution each year,” said Lauren Goldberg, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, an environmental group based in Hood River, Oregon.

The regulatory commission’s study noted that its staff was unable to assess the project’s contribution to greenhouse gases “through any objective analysis.”

“Climate change is a global concern,” the federal study said. “However, for this analysis, we will focus on the existing and potential cumulative climate change impacts in the project area.”
TC Energy said Saturday that it is reviewing the environmental impact statement, which recommended a few mitigation measures.

The company has “secured long-term agreements with customers for 100% of the project capacity,” TC Energy said in an email. “This further demonstrates the need for secure energy to supplement renewables as we work toward a cleaner energy future.”

FERC is expected to make its final decision on the proposal on Feb. 16, the environmental coalition said.

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By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press

SALEM – A Canadian energy company on Wednesday quit plans to build a controversial natural gas pipeline and marine export terminal on the southern Oregon coast after failing to obtain all necessary state permits.

Opponents of the Jordan Cove project, which would have produced the first West Coast liquefied natural gas export terminal in the lower 48 states, rejoiced at the news. The marine export terminal would have been located at Coos Bay, with a 230-mile-long feeder pipeline crossing southern Oregon.

Many landowners, Indian tribes and environmentalists had objected, saying the Pembina Pipeline Corp. project would spoil the environment and contribute to climate change by producing greenhouse gases. In 2019, protesters filled the Oregon State Capitol and occupied the governor’s office until they were hauled away by state police.

“It’s been almost two decades of fighting this project, and it is incredible to hear that all of that work has paid off, and our homes, our waterways, our climate are going to be protected from this project,” said Allie Rosenbluth of Rogue Climate, a southern Oregon-based group advocating for a transition to renewable energy.

Supporters of the project to ship U.S. and Canadian natural gas to Asia said it would create jobs and help the economy. The Coos Bay City Council last year approved dredging part of the bay to increase the width and depth of the shipping channel.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the project in March 2020, while Donald Trump was president. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown threatened to go to court to stop the project if its developers didn’t obtain every permit required from state and local agencies.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality denied a water quality certification for the project, and the Department of State Lands refused to grant another extension to Calgary-based Pembina to file documents in its application for a permit to dredge sediment out of Coos Bay.

Pembina said Wednesday that federal regulators took another look this year, and on Jan. 19, the commission determined Oregon had not waived its certification authority under the Clean Water Act. Furthermore, on Feb. 8, the U.S. Department of Commerce sustained Oregon’s objection under the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Donald Sullivan, manager and associate general counsel of the Jordan Cove Energy Project, told the commission in a notification Wednesday that Pembina has reviewed the prospects for obtaining the permits in the future and “decided not to move forward with the project.”

Sullivan’s notification asked the commission to cancel its permit.

Deb Evans owns land in rural Klamath County that would have been crossed by the pipeline.

“It’s a good day for landowners,” she said.

Evans and her family have been fighting the project for years, fearing the loss of part of their wooded property, where they have a timber mill, to eminent domain.

“We’re super pumped about the news that we got today from our attorneys, and it’s been a long time coming,” she said.

Evans was worried about fire danger increasing as a result of the pipeline, which would have crossed almost a half-mile of their property. She also cited risks to the environment.

The chairman of the Klamath Tribal Council, Don Gentry, said the decision by Pembina to drop the project “is a significant relief for our members who have been so concerned about the impacts.”

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