AIRAN SCRUBY
News Assistant
Two offshore facilities for the storage and conversion of liquefied natural gas could be moving in to the Pacific Ocean near Malibu and Port Hueneme, Calif.
Citizen activists voiced concerns through letter campaigns about these ports because they will be used to store liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The substance can be extremely volatile and dangerous to marine life.
Despite the dangers, two such sites are slated to be placed in the waters off Malibu’s coast. BHP Billiton, one of the world’s largest mining companies, together with the U.S. Coast Guard and the State Lands Commission, have proposed a project called the Cabrillo Deepwater Port, 21 miles southwest of Port Hueneme.
Crystal Energy, a company created specifically to build Clearwater Port in Southern California, has also partnered with the Coast Guard and the State Lands Commission to propose a second project, 13 miles off shore, north of Malibu. The port would be the company’s only project.
Environmental impact statements that demonstrate the safety of the projects will also be necessary to allow either company to build.
Each project has proposed the use of a platform away from shore, connected to land by an underwater piping system. Billiton’s pipes will allow natural gas to move from their platform to Port Hueneme, supplying Ventura County with energy. The gas will arrive at the Cabrillo Deepwater Port in the form of LNG.
Billiton has been met with harsh opposition to the project from those against the use of LNG. In December 2004, the City of Malibu, through the city council, took a stand on the issue, officially stating opposition to the project and to LNG being close to populated areas such as Ventura County and Los Angeles County.
“I am utterly and completely opposed to the Crystal Energy project and Billiton,” Malibu Mayor Andy Stern said. He said the project had been proposed but not approved.
“In my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to build LNG in a populated area like this,” he said.
Crystal Energy’s pipes will run natural gas from land (in Ventura County) to the station, where it will be converted to LNG and shipped to other areas. Both companies have said that the use of LNG is a safe, necessary solution to California’s energy shortages.
Citizens Against Crystal Energy Malibu (CACE) is a group opposed to the use of LNG and to the project presented by Crystal Energy.
Members of the group are concerned that Billiton is receiving more attention, and that Crystal Energy’s project may be allowed to slip through the approval process without opposition. CACE member Seth Jacobson said Crystal Energy has kept a low profile in hopes of being approved before the public realizes what it is doing.
Crystal Energy plans to use an existing platform, Platform Grace, for its project. The platform, formerly used by Chevron, has been out of operation since 1995, Jacobson said. Jacobson said the platform had a history of environmental violations and was too old to be reused.
Crystal Energy also is calling the platform a “multi-use” platform. CACE member Melissa Romley said the company had contracts in the works to renew oil drilling with Woodside Energy, drilling from the platform as well as converting natural gas into LNG.
While CACE targets a particular project, activists worldwide are opposed to the use of LNG because of its history of safety problems.
Proponents of the substance say that it is a necessary step in providing energy to the United States, and that the process of creating and storing LNG is relatively safe, safer than gasoline, butane and propane, more commonly used gases.
The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas states on its Web site that since the beginning of LNG use in 1912, only eight marine incidents of spillage have occurred in the Unites States, and that the substance is safe for use.
Those opposed disagree. Tim Riley, a consumer protection attorney, warns citizens on his Web site that LNG is susceptible to terrorist attack, explosion, marine spills and fire. There have been accidents like the Cleveland disaster in 1944, in which an LNG explosion on land killed 131 and injured dozens more.
The Crystal Energy and Billiton projects are under review by standards set up by the National Environmental Policy and California Environmental Quality acts. The process of approval is expected to take 18 to 24 months.
11-03-2005