Controversial US energy project back in LNG game: Will its ‘rise from the ashes’ rekindle court battle?

After getting the axe at the end of 2021, a hotly contested liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project and its 230-mile pipeline in Southern Oregon, USA, are coming back to the U.S. energy horizon, thanks to a first legal shot being fired to enable its revival with a petition filed with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals by Arizona-based OA Partners, an LNG transportation startup. If the go-ahead is received to enable its revival, such a play to dip the controversial energy project’s toes back into the permitting process is anticipated to spark the climate activists’ ire.

Many believed that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had its final say on the previously proposed Jordan Cove energy project in Coos County, Oregon, in December 2021, when it issued an order vacating authorizations for both the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and the Pacific Connector gas pipeline.

The move effectively ended the project after its owner, Canada’s Pembina Pipeline, filed their initial brief requesting that FERC pull the plug on authorizations for the project under the Natural Gas Act, following a years-long battle with environmental and climate activists, which prevented the project from obtaining environmental permits.

However, a plot twist has now been introduced by OA Partners, which filed a petition with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to retroactively revive the Jordan Cove LNG terminal project in Coos County, using President Donald Trump‘s executive order to unleash American energy and speed up permitting for LNG export projects, as a justification behind its request in which it asks the court to waive Oregon’s state permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act.

The Jordan Cove energy project consists of a proposed liquefied natural gas export facility in Coos Bay and an approximately 230-mile pipeline connecting Coos Bay and Malin. The LNG terminal would have been able to export up to 7.8 million metric tons of LNG every year had it been built. The facility would have gotten natural gas via a new 229-mile-long pipeline.

Initially proposed in 2007, the Jordan Cove energy project faced heavy opposition, preventing Pembina from securing the environmental permits from the state of Oregon, forcing the Canadian player’s hand to put an end to the project in December 2021.

Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) is among the ones that worked against the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and Pacific Connector pipeline in Oregon for more than 15 years. At the end of 2021, when the project got canceled, WELC celebrated the project’s termination, claiming that it would have represented the largest construction project in the state’s history and the largest climate polluter in Oregon, with a pipeline over 200 miles long.

WELC previously said: “We achieved a huge victory in 2016 when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied the developers’ application, determining that the public benefits of the project are too few to outweigh its costs. This was the first and only time FERC denied an application for an LNG terminal.

“Then, developers filed a new application, and the pro-fossil fuel administration in Washington D.C. overlooked the project’s flaws, granting FERC approval. Through tireless advocacy and education, our coalition convinced states and localities to stand strong to their water quality and pollution requirements and deny needed permits for the project.”

Moreover, the Western Environmental Law Center and its allies underlined their belief that they emerged victorious when Pembina withdrew its FERC application and announced it had no intention to pursue the project.

“This victory was hard fought, and the proposal may rise from the ashes again someday — this is the third time we have defeated it. But for now, rest easy knowing Oregon’s coast, waterways, and climate are safe from this ecosystem-altering threat,” emphasized WELC.

The day when this project rises like a phoenix from the ashes seems to be around the corner, given the Trump administration’s stance on LNG projects. The previously proposed development plan for the Jordan Cove energy project entails the construction of an LNG export facility on 500 acres of the North Spit across the Coos Bay from the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport, with the approximately 229-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline, which was envisioned to have the capacity of up to one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

According to Permitting Dashboard, an official website of the United States government, the Jordan Cove LNG terminal would include gas inlet facilities, a metering station, a gas conditioning plant, five liquefaction trains and associated equipment, two full-containment LNG storage tanks, an LNG transfer line, LNG ship loading facilities, a marine slip, a marine offloading facility, a new access channel between the Coos Bay Navigation Channel and the new marine slip, and enhancements to the existing Coos Bay Navigation Channel at four turns. 

Aside from this, the terminal would include emergency and hazard, electrical, security, control, and support systems, administrative buildings, and a temporary workforce housing facility. The LNG terminal would be designed to liquefy about 1.04 billion cubic feet per day of LNG for export to markets across the Pacific Rim.

On the other hand, the Pacific Connector pipeline would encapsulate the construction and operation of an approximately 229-mile-long, 36-inch-diameter interstate natural gas transmission pipeline, and associated aboveground facilities, which would originate near Malin in Klamath County, Oregon, traverse Douglas and Jackson Counties, and terminate at the LNG terminal in Coos County, with the capacity of transporting about 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. 

The associated facilities would entail the Klamath Compressor Station (61,500 horsepower) near Malin, Oregon; three-meter stations; five pig launchers and receivers; 17 mainline block valves; and a gas control communication system.

When the Jordan Cove LNG project got sacked, Sierra Club’s takeaway from the legal maneuvering was that years of grassroots pressure and persistence finally paid off. Many other environmental and climate groups shared the same view. As a result, a green light to embark on the development of this LNG project is likely to spur the court saga to shut it down once again.

Daniel E. Estrin, General Counsel and Advocacy Director for Waterkeeper Alliance, stated: “While these ‘David vs. Goliath’ battles to protect our environment and climate from the fossil fuel industry often start with what feel like very long odds, we see time and again that when communities stand up and arm themselves with the law and science to fight for what’s right, we often beat those long odds.”

Those advocating for the revival of the project claim that Jordan Cove LNG customers will benefit from lower shipping costs to Asia compared to those via the Panama Canal, as the U.S. west coast is said to hold significant shipping cost advantages to Far East markets and avoids the Panama Canal, which Trump wants under U.S. control.