Here is the Write up by The World Newspaper about the Jan 11th Forum.................

Includes Side Bar info that was published but not posted on-line.

http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2007/01/16/news/news02011607.txt

Safety concerns top of mind at latest LNG forum
By Hallie Winchell, Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 1:09 PM PST

A forum on LNG was held at Southwestern Oregon Community College on Thursday evening. Members of the audience wrote questions that were later answered by members of the panel of the forum. At the forum from left to right, Dan Serres, Jody McCaffree, Rory Cox, Ron Metzger, Rob Witter, Adam Bless, Bob Braddock, Jeffrey Bishop and Ron Opitz.

COOS BAY - Neither snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night could stop community members from attending the final meeting in a series of public forums on a proposed liquefied natural gas facility.

More than 100 people attended the forum Thursday, held at the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the Southwestern Oregon Community College campus. The event drew a handful of new faces, and a slew of opponents and proponents, eager to discuss the proposed Jordan Cove LNG terminal on the North Spit, and a potential 223-mile, 36-inch diameter natural gas line by Williams Pipeline, that would follow.

Information was broken into several of presentations by a panel of opponents and proponents. Fred Clarke, a resident of Glasgow, moderated the forum, handling written questions from the audience.

LNG opponent and panelist Jody McCaffree, continued to beat the anti-LNG drum, passionately discussing potential hazards and negative impacts to the Bay Area.

“A 3-mile safety zone will enclose the moving tankers as they come into the bay - that's the width of the bay itself. This facility will affect fishing traffic on the bay, both commercial and recreational,” she said. “Why would we want to do this? Do we really want to put our community at risk for a few jobs?”

Other panelists commented on the geological state of the facility site, the project's potential benefits and attracting additional businesses to locate in the area.

Seismically stable?

After an hour of presentations, the second hour was devoted to questions and answers. Most questions were the same as those posed at prior forums, as were the answers (see sidebar - below).

An old hand at the forums by now, Bob Braddock, manager of the Jordan Cove LNG project, deftly handled questions from the audience - mostly aimed at him.

Concerns about the safety of an LNG facility located on a sand dune in a tsunami zone pervaded the forum, which was attended by both Southwestern geology professor Ron Metzger and Rob Witter, a geologist with the Oregon Department of Geological and Mineral Industries. Adam Bless from the Department of Energy also attended for the first time.

Jordan Cove plans to locate the proposed facility on a sand dune just beyond Roseburg Forest Products. A sand dune may not be a stable site in the event of an earthquake, and is located in a tsunami zone, McCaffree said.

Braddock responded that most of North Bend and Coos Bay is in a tsunami zone.

“We're in the same tsunami zone as the Pony (Village) Mall, but we'll be 30 feet higher than they are,” he said. “Our geotechnical specialists have reviewed the information on the site for our building. The design has been peer reviewed and will have to be approved by (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission).”

The siting of the facility, which will feature several million-gallon holding tanks, as well as a slip for LNG tanker ships, must meet FERC regulations, which include an evaluation by the state's geological specialists.

Bless said a negative recommendation from the state would probably be taken seriously by federal officials.

“If DOGAMI said that a building couldn't be built in a specific site, I think FERC would listen to that,” he said.

Braddock wasn't the only one in the hot seat. Environmentalist Dan Serres, of the Friends of Living Oregon Waters, was challenged on his opinion that the Williams pipeline would disrupt private and public lands from the coast through Medford and on toward the California border.

An audience member asked if the impact of the proposed pipeline would be short lived: Once in the ground, would it really be a problem?

Serres said the pipeline company's easement is permanent and includes a wide area on all sides of the submerged pipe.

“That area will be cleared away every few years, damaging the value of the land,” he said.

No matter how you cut it, the pipeline will affect someone, he added.

LNG project supporters went on to tout additional family-wage jobs as a great improvement to the area with little negative consequences.

Braddock clarified that most of the jobs at the facility will be filled by local people, but several experienced LNG facility workers and construction positions will probably be filled with workers from outside of the area. The experienced workers will then train local folks to provide support to the facility, at the tankers, a security office and an on-site fire house.

When asked if it will ever be clear to Jordan Cove that the community doesn't want a facility sited in the area, Braddock replied the company had studied the community reaction three years ago in focus groups. The reactions led the company to conclude the community wouldn't be opposed to a LNG facility, he added.

The project has changed in scope and with the Williams pipeline in the scenario, Serres said, it's likely the community's feelings also have changed.

“The only fair way to do it is to have an election,” McCaffree said.

The Jordan Cove project will be considered in greater depth by federal officials once its official application is filed in mid-February. Once that happens, a community can form a group and file as “official interveners,” submitting comments and testimony to FERC to protest the siting of the LNG facility, Bless said.

“There's a very specific window for filing intervener status,” he said.

“Once the company files, comments are only taken from groups who filed to intervene,” McCaffree added. “The comment period from general community members is going on now.”

Forming opinions

Although many attended the forum with their minds made up, bearing anti-LNG buttons or with clear allegiances, others were hearing this information for the first time.

For the Brandt brothers, Jon and Matt, Thursday's forum was their first exposure to the LNG discussion. As young men living in the area, the concept of additional jobs was one that filled them with hope.

“I don't believe any of these arguments could impact the project in a negative way. They're not convincing,” Matt said. “Why would we want this? Have you looked at this community? This place really needs this kind of development.”

Gary Hall, of Medford, drove several hours in the chilly, icy conditions to hear information on a pipeline possibly going through his neighborhood.

“I was impressed at the professionalism of the forum. I thought both the proponents and opposition were very business-like in answering questions,” he said. “But I fear the developers have something in their back pocket. I fear for the community being uninformed on this issue.”

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SIDEBAR - (Published but not posted on-line)

Same Questions, Same Answers

Most questions at the liquefied natural gas forum centered around two subjects:  Safety and impact on the community and local environment.

Q: Who will pay for additional emergency services?

Jordan Cove Energy Project is required to pay for additional services that may be required due to the siting of its facility, said project manager Bob Braddock.  The company has determined a new fire hall is needed at the facility, and will pay for the construction, equipment, personnel and training, he said.

Q: Will LNG be shipped through downtown Coos Bay by rail or on trucks?

No.  If any product produced at the LNG Facility is shipped out of the area and isn't sent down the Williams's Pipeline, it would be a propane-butane mix, Braddock said.  The mixture would be pumped back onto an outgoing ship, he added.

Q: Would a tsunami endanger the tanks at the facility?

Probably not. Tsunami wave heights in the Bay Area are estimated to be around 30 feet, but a tsunami wave going out onto the North Spit from within the bay would probably be around 12 to 15 feet, said Rob Witter, geologist with the Oregon Department of Geological and Mineral Industries.

Q: How are LNG vessels safeguarded?  What about sabotage of the facility?

The U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for guarding the tankers, boarding and inspecting the ships before they enter the bay, and escorting them up to the LNG facility, Braddock said.  "The terminal is a bad target.  The tanks are robustly constructed with 3 foot concrete walls."

Q: What do citizens of Coos Bay and North Bend have to do to make it clear Jordan Cove isn't wanted in this area?

Braddock said he told officials at the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay that if Jordan Cove's project didn't serve the best interest of the community, tell him and the company will disappear.  But the community hasn't made up its mind yet, he said, and previous focus groups made it seem the residents would support the project