To: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Sen. Robert Casey (PA-1), and Sen. Patrick Toomey (PA-2)
Say NO to the Cove Point LNG Export Facility!
Karen Feridun
I respectfully submit this public comment to urge FERC to reject Dominion Resources’ application to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland (Docket #CP13-113). Given evidence that Dominion’s proposed Cove Point project will harm regional air and water quality, increase the demand for dangerous natural gas fracking, and trigger an exorbitant amount of greenhouse gas pollution – potentially equal to all of Maryland’s coal-fired power plants combined – this project is not in the public interest.
The only way that FERC could possibly justify the Cove Point project is by sweeping the dangers under the rug, and that’s exactly what the draft “Environmental Assessment” (EA) does. If FERC takes any next step on this project, it must be to conduct a full, comprehensive, and credible Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), specifically one that:
1) Analyzes the “upstream” damage that Cove Point could trigger via expanded fracking and gas infrastructure, given that a major Pennsylvania fracking company – Cabot Oil & Gas – has committed to pipe gas to Cove Point for export.
2) Accounts for the cumulative, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions Cove Point would trigger from fracking wells to pipelines to tanker ships to final smoke stacks.
3) Includes an independent, quantitative risk assessment of explosion hazards that could reach nearby homes. FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s own data – and Dominion’s proposed system of untested “vapor barrier” walls – to dismiss off-site safety concerns is unacceptable.
Any thorough and credible examination of the impacts of this project will show that the public and the environment will come out a significant loser, while the gas industry profits. I urge you to deny Dominion’s application right now or, at absolute minimum, conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement.
The only way that FERC could possibly justify the Cove Point project is by sweeping the dangers under the rug, and that’s exactly what the draft “Environmental Assessment” (EA) does. If FERC takes any next step on this project, it must be to conduct a full, comprehensive, and credible Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), specifically one that:
1) Analyzes the “upstream” damage that Cove Point could trigger via expanded fracking and gas infrastructure, given that a major Pennsylvania fracking company – Cabot Oil & Gas – has committed to pipe gas to Cove Point for export.
2) Accounts for the cumulative, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions Cove Point would trigger from fracking wells to pipelines to tanker ships to final smoke stacks.
3) Includes an independent, quantitative risk assessment of explosion hazards that could reach nearby homes. FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s own data – and Dominion’s proposed system of untested “vapor barrier” walls – to dismiss off-site safety concerns is unacceptable.
Any thorough and credible examination of the impacts of this project will show that the public and the environment will come out a significant loser, while the gas industry profits. I urge you to deny Dominion’s application right now or, at absolute minimum, conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement.
Why is this important?
The only way to ship fracked gas to foreign markets is to liquefy it. Several liquefying facilities have been proposed along the coastline of the United States. One of those sites, the first one under consideration on the East Coast, is the Cove Point LNG facility in Maryland. LNG is a dangerous business, not just for the communities near the proposed facility, but for communities across the Marcellus and those near the pipelines and compressors in between. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is in denial about just how dangerous it is.
This is an especially important issue for Pennsylvanians. After all, Cabot Oil & Gas, the company responsible for ruining the water of several families in Dimock, PA, the company banned from doing further fracking there, has already inked a deal with Sumitomo to provide Japan with 20 years of Marcellus gas that would be liquefied and shipped via Cove Point.
More wells. more pipelines, more compressor stations, more spills, more blowouts, more cement failures, more contaminated water, more polluted air, more illnesses. And for what? For cheap domestic gas? For energy independence? No. For Cabot's bottom line.
This is just part of a much larger fight to defeat the Cove Point LNG facility. When you sign this petition, you're helping the people of Maryland and the people of your own state, perhaps your own community. Thank you!
This is an especially important issue for Pennsylvanians. After all, Cabot Oil & Gas, the company responsible for ruining the water of several families in Dimock, PA, the company banned from doing further fracking there, has already inked a deal with Sumitomo to provide Japan with 20 years of Marcellus gas that would be liquefied and shipped via Cove Point.
More wells. more pipelines, more compressor stations, more spills, more blowouts, more cement failures, more contaminated water, more polluted air, more illnesses. And for what? For cheap domestic gas? For energy independence? No. For Cabot's bottom line.
This is just part of a much larger fight to defeat the Cove Point LNG facility. When you sign this petition, you're helping the people of Maryland and the people of your own state, perhaps your own community. Thank you!