Say NO to the Cove Point LNG Export Facility!

I respectfully submit this public comment to urge FERC to reject Dominion Resources’ application to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland (Docket #CP13-113). Given evidence that Dominion’s proposed Cove Point project will harm regional air and water quality, increase the demand for dangerous natural gas fracking, and trigger an exorbitant amount of greenhouse gas pollution – potentially equal to all of Maryland’s coal-fired power plants combined – this project is not in the public interest. 

The only way that FERC could possibly justify the Cove Point project is by sweeping the dangers under the rug, and that’s exactly what the draft “Environmental Assessment” (EA) does. If FERC takes any next step on this project, it must be to conduct a full, comprehensive, and credible Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), specifically one that:

1) Analyzes the “upstream” damage that Cove Point could trigger via expanded fracking and gas infrastructure, given that a major Pennsylvania fracking company – Cabot Oil & Gas – has committed to pipe gas to Cove Point for export.

2) Accounts for the cumulative, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions Cove Point would trigger from fracking wells to pipelines to tanker ships to final smoke stacks.

3) Includes an independent, quantitative risk assessment of explosion hazards that could reach nearby homes. FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s own data – and Dominion’s proposed system of untested “vapor barrier” walls – to dismiss off-site safety concerns is unacceptable.

Any thorough and credible examination of the impacts of this project will show that the public and the environment will come out a significant loser, while the gas industry profits. I urge you to deny Dominion’s application right now or, at absolute minimum, conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement.

COVE POINT & BEYOND . .. …

July 13, 2014 @ 12:30 am – 4:00 pm

Meet at U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC

It is unlikely such a ship would break apart, but it would be a handy target for a mortar or rocket attack. These implements of war are light enough to be carried by hand. They could be carried in a pickup or small boat with no indication of what was going on, and set up and fired by two or three desperate men. Such attack would not need to be conducted while the ship was tied up, but could be conducted anywhere along the channel the ship followed until it was far from shore. A small boat wouldn’t even have to go to the ship – it could be located along the expected path and wait until the ship came along.

These people have a lot to think about. If they will!