LNG- What is the Issue?

Open-Loop LNG Withdrawn
Mobile Meeting - Gothard's LNG Comments
AWF LNG Resolution
LNG Action Alert from the Gulf Fisheries Alliance
AWF's Letters to Governor Bob Riley:
2005 Letter 2006 Letter

Gulf of Mexico LNG Facilites Print Version
By Tim Gothard, AWF Executive Director
Taken from Alabama Wildlife Magazine, Summer 2005 issue

Energy independence and affordability is a high priority for our nation for a multitude of reasons, including national and economic security. As a result, natural gas has emerged as a highly desirable source for providing cleaner energy solutions and alternative energy options. This interest developed prior to recent spikes in crude oil and gasoline prices, but these events have also added to the drive for natural gas development.

One of the high interest areas of natural gas development is the liquefied natural gas (LNG) arena LNG provides transportation and associated cost efficiencies since natural gas cooled to its liquid state can be transported more affordably in very large quantities from other countries to the United States. In fact, LNG is transported on some of the largest ocean vessels in the world. Once the LNG tankers reach their destination, the LNG must be warmed so that the liquid returns to the gaseous form that we are most familiar with and utilize. This process is called re-gasification and
requires specialized facilities and equipment to perform this task. Many of the LNG re-gasification facilities initially proposed were targeted for construction on land in populated areas. However, due to safety and national security concerns, the risk of explosion or fire (whether by accident or terrorist events) and the resulting threat to people has focused location of these facilities in offshore waters.

According to the Maritime Administration, which is charged with approving license applications for offshore LNG facilities, more that 20 such facilities are in the planning stages. Many of these are proposed for the Gulf of Mexico, including a facility called Compass Port, 11 miles south of Dauphin Island, off the Alabama Gulf Coast.

The Alabama Wildlife Federation supports our nation’s efforts to develop energy independence and affordable energy options through LNG technology. At the same time, we also know how important the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and fisheries are to our economy and our way of life. So being, we must strike the proper balance with offshore LNG facilities so that we achieve our energy needs and goals while maintaining a healthy Gulf of Mexico. To that end, the Alabama Wildlife Federation Board of Directors recently passed a resolution relative to offshore LNG facilities that supports offshore LNG facilities using the closed loop system of re-gasification and opposes those that would use the open loop system of re-gasification.

Open loop systems would extract large quantities of water (projected at 135-150 million gallons per day for the proposed Compass Port facility) directly from the Gulf of Mexico and discharge that water directly back into the Gulf. Due to the treatment of the water with biocides and due to significant changes in water temperature and pressure, this process would take in and kill large quantities of important fish eggs, larvae, crabs, and invertebrates such as shrimp which are the backbone of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and our commercial and recreational fisheries. This has been cited as a major concern by the Gulf Fisheries Management Council, the EPA, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and several other conservation organizations. So much so, that for the moment, the Compass Port licensing process has been put on hold. AWF believes that the closed loop system of re-gasification, which utilizes combustion of a small portion of the LNG itself to fire a heating system to regasify LNG, is far more appropriate technique to use since it will eliminate the significant negative impacts on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and fisheries and have minimal impacts on the environment. The closed loop system is considered more expensive, but we believe the additional expense is warranted and still economically feasible. In fact, one company proposing a similar facility in the western Gulf of Mexico has decided against the use of the open loop system because of the concern over these same negative impacts.