Channelkeeper takes on review of LNG terminal proposed for Platform Grace

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper is undertaking the review of a proposal by Northernstar Natural Gas to build a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at Platform Grace – just 10 miles offshore and close to the boundary of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Channelkeeper has hired the Environmental Defense Center (EDC),  experts on the issues related to LNG, to coordinate the review of proposed Clearwater Port project on our behalf. The placement of an LNG terminal in the Santa Barbara Channel is a significant and potentially devastating development for the long-term future of the Channel. 

As an organization devoted to the restoration and the protection of the Channel, we feel it is our responsibility to the communities we serve to inform them of this project, to ensure that the project meets all applicable environmental laws, and to demand that safer alternatives with fewer impacts are carefully considered before any approvals are granted. 

In taking this project on, we looked for the best possible legal team to coordinate the review. Luckily, that team is right here in Santa Barbara: the Environmental Defense Center (EDC). There is no other non-profit public interest law firm in the state, and perhaps the nation, that is as well versed on the LNG issue. Their expertise will enable Channelkeeper to conduct a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation of the NorthernStar LNG terminal proposal and the long term impacts it poses for the Channel we work to protect every day.

We already achieved our first early victory in this case; the US Coast Guard announced on October 29th, 2008 that they have “stopped the clock” on the fast-tracked review schedule because they’ve determined that extensive additional information is needed for them to adequately and fully assess the environmental impacts of the project. Many of the additional information needs highlighted in the Coast Guard’s notice were issues that Channelkeeper and EDC highlighted in our October 17th comment letter on the range of concerns we believe the environmental review must address. Click here for the U.S. Coast Guard's data gap document issued on October 29, 2007.

Click here for an updated SBCK-EDC NorthernStar LNG factsheet.

Click here for our October 22, 2007 press release announcing our review of the Clearwater Port LNG proposal.

Click here for the statement made by Kira Redmond, Channelkeeper's Executive Director, at our October 22, 2007 press conference.

Click here for the statement made by Sherry Madsen, Channelkeeper's Board President, at the press conference.

Click here for a video of the press conference on YouTube.

Click here for our October 17, 2007 comment letter on the scope of the environmental review for the proposed project, prepared by EDC on behalf of Channelkeeper.

Click here for the California Coastal Commission's comment letter on the scope of the environmental review for the proposed project.

Click here for a briefer on LNG in California.

Click here for a map of proposed LNG facilities on the West Coast.

Click here for a NY Times Q&A on LNG terminals as potential terrorist targets.

Click here for recent press articles.