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Bill blocking LNG plant passes
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Despite concerns it could lead to a losing court battle, members of the Baltimore Council Monday night voted unanimously to pass a bill in hopes it might thwart a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on the Sparrows Point peninsula.
The bill adds LNG terminals to a list of prohibited facilities in the county’s designated Chesapeake Bay Critical Area and is the second legislative action combating a Virginia-based energy firm’s plans for a $400 million plant just off the Key Bridge.
A federal judge last month overturned a zoning change the council adopted in June that banned LNG facilities within five miles of a residential area. Agreeing with attorneys for the AES Corp. Judge Richard Bennett said local laws are pre-empted by the Natural Gas Act, which gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the exclusive authority to determine if and where a company can build an LNG terminal.
AES officials maintain the project will improve water quality — not reduce it. In a letter to council members, company officials hinted they also will challenge the council’s most recent attempt in court.
“We urge you not to enact a law that we fully anticipate will be found unconstitutional,” project manager Kent Morton wrote. “Such developments do lasting harm to the integrity of the legislative process, erode public trust and, in this case, are entirely unnecessary.”
David Carroll, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management, said the bill is consistent with other county and state regulations within the critical area, which includes bans on landfills and hazardous waste disposal.
County attorney John Beverungen said he believes the bill will stand in court because the gas act does not pre-empt the federal Coastal Zone Act.
In an interview prior to the meeting, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, said he was concerned the bill would lead to another lawsuit at taxpayers’ expense.
jmalarkey@baltimoreexaminer.com
