Baltimore County (Map, News) - The Baltimore County Council passed a bill Monday banning liquefied natural gas facilities within five miles of homes — essentially blocking the proposed LNG terminal at the Sparrows Point Shipyard — but project supporters are questioning the bill’s authority.

A legal team from the company proposing the highly controversial terminal, AES Corp., began preparing their battle against the bill last week, said Kent Morton, AES’ project director, after Council Chair John Olszewski, D-District 7, grilled project supporters at a council work session.

“Given the tone of that meeting, their decision had already been made,” Morton said. “But the council knows this isn’t going to pass muster.”

Morton pointed to a similar bill proposed at the state level during the recent General Assembly session, when Baltimore County Del. Norman Stone, D-District 6, proposed a ban on LNG terminals within two miles of a home. The bill was watered down to a task force to study the potential impacts of a terminal after Assistant Attorney General William Varga said the federal Natural Gas Act pre-empts state authority. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has exclusive authority to approve or deny the sites and construction of LNG terminals, according to Varga. FERC officials declined to comment on the County Council’s bill for this article.

But Olszewski, who proposed the bill, said the legislation will at least delay the company’s approval process. The county and state can also slow or block the terminal during the permit process, officials said.

The $400 million project calls for a major dredging effort to accommodate ocean tankers that would deliver the gas to a 60-acre terminal at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard. The ultra-cold liquid gas would be vaporized, then sent through an 87-mile pipeline through Harford County and into Pennsylvania.

“It’s an election year, and it’s a large infrastructure project,” Morton said. “Notice no one is talking about these except to oppose them. It’s not a popular subject.”

jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com

rcassie@baltimoreexaminer.com