FERC denies Sierra Club’s rehearing request on Lake Charles LNG authorization

The United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order denying Sierra Club’s request for rehearing of the Commissions permit for the construction of Lake Charles liquefaction facilities. 

FERC authorized construction of three liquefaction trains and related equipment, along with the modification of existing LNG storage and marine berthing facilities at the Energy Transfer-owned LNG import terminal in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

The order also granted Gas Company’s proposal to expand and modify its pipeline system and associated compressor stations in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana in order to meet demand for additional transportation capacity required to deliver gas to the Louisiana Gulf Coast area.

BG Group which is now part of the Hague-based giant Shell, would operate and be responsible for the LNG offtake from the facility.

FERC informed in its order that on January 19, Sierra Club filed a request for rehearing, arguing the Commission inadequately evaluated the facilities’ indirect and cumulative effects during its environmental review.

Sierra Club claims “the Commission too narrowly confined the scope of its environmental analysis by ignoring indirect effects related to upstream natural gas production, greenhouse gas emissions, including secondary effects resulting from those emissions, and domestic gas-to-coal switching.”

Additionally, Sierra Club claims the cumulative effects analysis lacked the analysis of the mentioned effects when combined with effects from other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable LNG export facilities.

The Commission denied the rehearing request, noting that statements and reports cited by Sierra Club are broad generic reports based on generalized assumptions rather than reasonably specific information, which will not yield information that would provide meaningful assistance to the Commission in its decision-making.

LNG World News Staff