Project Overview
The Project is located within the Port of Coos Bay on the North Spit of lower Coos Bay, on an undeveloped site zoned for industrial development, approximately 7 nautical miles from the entrance of the federally controlled and maintained navigation channel. Jordan Cove and the South Dunes Power Plant sit on 500 acres of privately purchased land designated an Enterprise Zone by the State of Oregon.
- LNG Storage Capacity – 320,000 cubic meters
- Two 160,000 m3 full containment tanks
- Liquefaction Capacity - 6 million Metric Tons per Year
- Sendout Capacity – 1,000,000 dth/day with a peak send-out of 1,200,000 dth/day
- Pipeline Interconnections
- Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline – 1,000,000 dth/day
- Marine Facilities
- Single LNG Marine Berth
- Dedicated Tractor Tug dock
- Associated Power Generation Plant
- South Dunes Power Plant
- Combined cycle natural gas fueled
- Peak capacity 420 Megawatts
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
FERC Staff Issues the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Jordan Cove Liquefaction and Pacific Connector Pipeline Projects (Docket Nos. CP13-483-000 and CP13-492-000).
Issued November 7, 2014
The staff of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) has prepared a draft
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the projects proposed by Jordan
Cove Energy Project LP (Jordan Cove) in Docket No. CP13-482-000 and
Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline LP (Pacific Connector) in Docket No.
CP13-492-000. Jordan Cove proposes to construct and operate a liquefied
natural gas (LNG) export terminal at Coos Bay, Oregon, capable of
liquefying six million metric tonnes of LNG per annum using a supply of
about 0.9 billion feet of natural gas per day (bcf/d). Pacific
Connector proposes to construct and operate an underground welded-steel
pipeline between interconnections with the existing interstate natural
gas systems of Ruby Pipeline LLC and Gas Transmission Northwest LLC near
Malin, Oregon and the Jordan Cove terminal. The pipeline, having a
design capacity to transport up to 1.07 bcf/d, would cross portions of
Klamath, Jackson, Douglas, and Coos Counties, Oregon, with 0.04 bcf/d
dedicated for delivery to the existing Northwest Pipeline Grants Pass
Lateral.
The facilities at the proposed Jordan Cove LNG terminal would include an access channel from the existing Coos Bay navigation channel; a marine slip with berths for an LNG vessel and tugboats, and a loading platform; a transfer pipeline; two LNG storage tanks; four liquefaction trains and refrigerant storage bullets; fire water ponds; ground flares; support buildings; utility and access corridor between the terminal and the power plant; 420-megawatt South Dune Power Plant; Southwest Oregon Resource Security Center; and the natural gas treatment plant. The Pacific Connector facilities would consist of the 232-mile-long, 36-inch-diameter pipeline between Malin and Coos Bay; the 41,000 horsepower Klamath Compressor Station at the eastern beginning of the pipeline; the Klamath-Eagle Receipt Meter Station and Klamath-Beaver Receipt Meter Station within the compressor station tract; Clarks Branch Delivery Meter Station at the interconnection with Northwest; the Jordan Cove Delivery Meter Station at the interconnection with the Jordan Cove LNG terminal; 5 pig 1 launchers and receivers; 17 mainline block valves; and 11 communication towers co-located with other facilities.
The EIS has been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500–1508), and FERC regulations implementing NEPA (18 CFR 380). The conclusions and recommendations presented in the EIS are those of the FERC environmental staff. Input from federal coopering agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE); U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard (Coast Guard); Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), was considered during the development of the conclusions and recommendations in the EIS. The EIS includes an analysis of project-specific amendments to individual BLM District and Forest Service National Forest land management plans (LMP) to make provision for the pipeline; and the BLM would use the EIS in its process of considering a Right-of-Way Grant for Pacific Connector, with the concurrence of the Forest Service and Reclamation. The cooperating federal agencies could develop their own conclusions and recommendations and would adopt the EIS per 40 CFR 1506.3 (where applicable) if, after an independent review of the document, they conclude that their permitting requirements have been satisfied.
The FERC staff concludes that construction and operation of the projects would result in some limited adverse environmental impacts, but these impacts would be reduced to less-than-significant levels. This determination is based on a review of the information provided by Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector and further developed from data requests; field investigations; scoping; literature research; alternatives analyses; and consultations with federal, state, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and other stakeholders. In addition, we developed other site-specific mitigation measures that Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector should implement to further reduce the environmental impacts that would otherwise result from construction of their projects. Although many factors were considered in this determination, the principal reasons are:
The facilities at the proposed Jordan Cove LNG terminal would include an access channel from the existing Coos Bay navigation channel; a marine slip with berths for an LNG vessel and tugboats, and a loading platform; a transfer pipeline; two LNG storage tanks; four liquefaction trains and refrigerant storage bullets; fire water ponds; ground flares; support buildings; utility and access corridor between the terminal and the power plant; 420-megawatt South Dune Power Plant; Southwest Oregon Resource Security Center; and the natural gas treatment plant. The Pacific Connector facilities would consist of the 232-mile-long, 36-inch-diameter pipeline between Malin and Coos Bay; the 41,000 horsepower Klamath Compressor Station at the eastern beginning of the pipeline; the Klamath-Eagle Receipt Meter Station and Klamath-Beaver Receipt Meter Station within the compressor station tract; Clarks Branch Delivery Meter Station at the interconnection with Northwest; the Jordan Cove Delivery Meter Station at the interconnection with the Jordan Cove LNG terminal; 5 pig 1 launchers and receivers; 17 mainline block valves; and 11 communication towers co-located with other facilities.
The EIS has been prepared in compliance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing NEPA (40 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500–1508), and FERC regulations implementing NEPA (18 CFR 380). The conclusions and recommendations presented in the EIS are those of the FERC environmental staff. Input from federal coopering agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE); U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Coast Guard (Coast Guard); Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), was considered during the development of the conclusions and recommendations in the EIS. The EIS includes an analysis of project-specific amendments to individual BLM District and Forest Service National Forest land management plans (LMP) to make provision for the pipeline; and the BLM would use the EIS in its process of considering a Right-of-Way Grant for Pacific Connector, with the concurrence of the Forest Service and Reclamation. The cooperating federal agencies could develop their own conclusions and recommendations and would adopt the EIS per 40 CFR 1506.3 (where applicable) if, after an independent review of the document, they conclude that their permitting requirements have been satisfied.
The FERC staff concludes that construction and operation of the projects would result in some limited adverse environmental impacts, but these impacts would be reduced to less-than-significant levels. This determination is based on a review of the information provided by Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector and further developed from data requests; field investigations; scoping; literature research; alternatives analyses; and consultations with federal, state, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and other stakeholders. In addition, we developed other site-specific mitigation measures that Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector should implement to further reduce the environmental impacts that would otherwise result from construction of their projects. Although many factors were considered in this determination, the principal reasons are:
- LNG marine traffic in the waterway would be required
to adhere to any vessel traffic and/or facility control measures
determined necessary by the Coast Guard to address navigational safety
and maritime security considerations;
- the final engineering design for the LNG terminal would incorporate
detailed seismic specifications and other measures to protect the
terminal from future earthquakes and potential tsunamis, and mitigation
measures would be implemented by Pacific Connector to address landslides
and other geological hazards along the pipeline route; Jordan Cove
would implement FERC’s Upland Erosion Control, Revegetation, and
Maintenance Plan and our Wetland and Waterbody Construction and
Mitigation Procedures, and its own Erosion and Sediment Control Plan, and Pacific Connector would implement its project-specific Erosion Control and Revegetation Plan, which would minimize impacts on soils, waterbodies, and wetlands;
- Jordan Cove would implement the measures of its Project Compensatory Wetland Mitigation Plan to mitigate for the loss of wetlands, and its Wildlife Habitat Mitigation Plan to mitigate for the loss of vegetation at the terminal location;
- Pacific Connector would implement the measures in its Stream
Crossing Risk Analysis, Report on Preliminary Pipeline Study of the
Haynes Inlet Water Route, Horizontal Directional Drill Contingency Plan
and Failure Procedures, and Draft Hydrostatic Testing Plan to minimize
impacts on waterbodies, and its Integrated Pest Management Plan to
minimize the potential spread of vegetative pests and noxious weeds;
- the COE and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality would issue
permits to Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector under the River and Harbors
Act, Clean Water Act, and Clean Air Act that would contain measures to
minimize impacts on water quality and air quality;
- Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector would obtain a determination from
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development that the projects
would be consistent with the Coast Zone Management Act;
- the BLM and Forest Service would amend their respective LMPs in the
appropriate Districts and National Forests to allow for the pipeline,
and the BLM would issue a Right-of-Way Grant to Pacific Connector for an
easement over federal lands, to be concurred with by the Forest Service
and Reclamation, based on the implementation of an approved Plan of
Development that includes additional measures to minimize impacts on
environmental resources;
- Jordan Cove and Pacific Connector would implement the measures in their Compensatory Mitigation Plan and
our biological assessment and essential fish habitat assessment to
mitigate for impacts on federally listed threatened and endangered
species, and the FWS and National Marine Fisheries Service would issue
biological opinions that include additional conservation measures to
assure that the Project would not jeopardize the continued existence of
any species under their jurisdiction and would not adversely modify or
destroy designated critical habitat;
- adverse effects on historic properties would be resolved through an amended project-specific Memorandum of Agreement;
- the LNG terminal would meet the federal safety regulations regarding
the thermal radiation and flammable vapor dispersion exclusion zones
and appropriate design standards, and Pacific Connector’s natural gas
facilities would also be designed, constructed, and operated in
accordance with DOT safety standards; and
- an environmental inspection and mitigation monitoring program would be implemented to ensure compliance with all mitigation measures that become conditions of any FERC authorization.
