FERC staff concludes Bradwood Landing terminal
“would be environmentally acceptable action” with appropriate mitigation

Draft Environmental Impact Statement recognizes the unparalleled avoidance and mitigation measures Bradwood Landing has proposed taking to ensure its project provides a net environmental benefit for the lower Columbia River.

ASTORIA, Ore. - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today issued its draft Environmental Impact Statement (dEIS) for the proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas terminal near Astoria and its associated pipeline stating that with appropriate mitigation measures as recommended, the project would have “limited adverse environmental impact.”

“We’re very pleased FERC has recognized the hard work we've put into this project to ensure we provide a net benefit to the environmental health of the lower Columbia River,” said NorthernStar Natural Gas CEO William “Si” Garrett. “We have designed our facility to have the smallest footprint possible, we have incorporated innovative technologies to reduce our impact and have voluntarily committed to a Salmon Enhancement Initiative worth up to $59 million to fund watershed restoration efforts.”

The dEIS was prepared by FERC in consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission staff further concluded that the project would be an “environmentally acceptable action with appropriate mitigation measures because:

• The final engineering design for the LNG terminal would incorporate detailed seismic specifications and other measures to mitigate the impacts of seismic hazards, and mitigation measures would be implemented along the pipeline route to address landslide hazards;
• Dredging to create the terminal berth maneuvering area would not significantly alter the hydrodynamic characteristics of the Columbia River or Clifton Channel. The sediments to be dredged are not contaminated, and the dredge spoil would be deposited at the terminal site to raise its elevation well above the 100-year-flood line, and at an existing permitted disposal site on Puget Island;
• NorthernStar would implement its project-specific Erosion and Sediment Control Plans and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan for the pipeline in Washington, and follow the FERC’s Wetland and Waterbody Construction and Mitigation Procedures to mitigate impacts on soils, wetlands, and water resources;
• The use of horizontal directional drill methods would avoid impacts on the bed and banks of selected sensitive waterbodies;
• Water intakes by LNG ships at berth would be screened to prevent the entrainment or impingement of federally-listed threatened or endangered juvenile salmonids;
• NorthernStar would implement various mitigation plans to compensate for impacts on waterbodies, wetlands, vegetation, and habitats;
• The proposed LNG terminal would meet the federal safety regulations regarding the thermal radiation and flammable vapor dispersion exclusion zones, and appropriate safety features would be incorporated into the design and operation of the LNG import terminal and LNG ships;
• If the Coast Guard issues a Letter of Recommendation finding the waterway to be suitable for LNG marine traffic (with additional conditions), the security provisions and operational controls that would be imposed would make the likelihood of an LNG spill, and the potential for an associated pool fire, remote;
• Consultations with the COE, Coast Guard, National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Oregon Department of State Lands, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon and Washington State Historic Preservation Offices, and other appropriate agencies would be completed before NorthernStar would be allowed to begin construction;
• An environmental and engineering inspection and mitigation monitoring program would be implemented to ensure compliance with all mitigation measures that become conditions of any FERC authorization.

The FERC Commissioners will take into consideration staff's recommendations and the final EIS when they make a decision on the project.

In November, NorthernStar announced a voluntary environmental commitment that focused on avoidance, mitigation and enhancement measures referenced by FERC in the dEIS issued today. A summary of those measures is below:

• Avoidance
  Major scientific and technological advances allow us to design our facility and take operational measures that will effectively minimize any adverse fish impacts at the Bradwood Landing terminal.
• Mitigation
  Bradwood Landing will take extraordinary efforts, far above standard requirements, to compensate for the minimal footprint of our importation terminal. We will restore formerly diked wetlands, rehabilitate wildlife habitat, reshape former agricultural lands into high value shallow water salmon habitat, and rebuild lower Columbia River wetland and estuary areas.
• Enhancement
  Bradwood Landing's commitment to salmon enhancement funding to the agencies and organizations with the greatest salmon restoration experience and expertise will make the lower Columbia estuary a national model for how salmon restoration is conducted in the future. Working with our partners, we will focus on increasing salmon productivity and improve their associated ecosystems along the lower Columbia River.

Taken as a whole, the components of the Bradwood Landing environmental commitment, including state of the art avoidance and minimization, robust compensatory mitigation, and substantial and sustained enhancement will result in a significant net ecological benefit to the lower Columbia region.

XXX