Gas plan open for comment
The latest proposal to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal off the coast of Ventura County begins a crucial process today as regulators hear from the public about which issues to consider during an upcoming environmental review.
The $600-million Clearwater Port terminal, proposed by Houston-based NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc., would convert an oil platform about 11 miles offshore from Oxnard to receive and process up to 1.4 billion cubic feet each day of liquefied natural gas imported from Pacific Rim countries such as Australia and Indonesia.
More than a dozen federal, state and local agencies will eventually review the Clearwater Port project. Meetings this afternoon and Thursday were coordinated by the California State Lands Commission, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Maritime Administration, which will oversee preparation of a joint state-federal environmental document.
Joseph Desmond, a NorthernStar senior vice president, said his company’s project would produce 80% less air pollution than earlier LNG proposals and would not require on-site natural gas storage, allowing the terminal to be built sooner and at a lower cost.
Al Sanders, conservation chairman of the Sierra Club’s Los Padres chapter, which covers Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, said placing an LNG terminal inside a marine sanctuary would be a huge mistake and that its potential danger to sea life, including whales, was incalculable.
“We have a real treasure here, so we don’t want to see this turned into a urbanized and industrialized marine area,” Sanders said.
Today there will be two one-hour open houses on the Clearwater Port project in Oxnard; the first is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., the second for 5:30 p.m.
Each open house will be followed by a two-hour meeting to accept public comment at the Oxnard Performing Arts and Convention Center, 800 Hobson Way.
A third public comment session, which will be preceded by a two-hour open house, will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Santa Clarita Activities Center, 20880 Centre Pointe Parkway.
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