The global power supply company that wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point is challenging the legality of a Baltimore County zoning law that would block the project.
The company, AES Sparrows Point LNG, filed suit in federal court, asking a judge to strike down the county's LNG zoning law.
In their request for an injunction, lawyers for AES wrote that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the sole authority to determine whether an LNG facility is constructed and asked the federal court to declare the county's zoning law to be "preempted by federal law and to be of no legal effect."
AES proposed late last year to construct a $400 million terminal at the former Sparrows Point shipyard, where shipments of liquefied natural gas would arrive via tankers from overseas. The liquid fuel would be transformed into gas at the facility and then pumped through a 87-mile pipeline to southern Pennsylvania for distribution along the East Coast.
Residents and elected officials have strongly opposed the LNG terminal, which would be less than 2 miles from the nearest houses in Dundalk. Critics of the project, which would require dredging the Patapsco River, say it would jeopardize the community's safety and thwart efforts to transform eastern Baltimore County from an industry-heavy area into a destination for technology companies, entertainment venues and tourists.
The lawsuit was filed Sept. 22 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
Donald I. Mohler III, a spokesman for the county, said yesterday that Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. plans a "vigorous defense" against the lawsuit and that the executive has directed the county's law office to prepare a legal strategy within the next several days.
"The county executive, as he has said from the beginning, will do whatever it takes to prevent the operation of a LNG plant in Sparrows Point," Mohler said.
A spokesman for the company provided a written statement yesterday, saying AES expected to file its formal application with federal regulators in December. The statement also said that "contrary to many of the claims made in public meetings and correspondence, our studies indicate that the off-shore dredging we have proposed will not harm the health of the Chesapeake Bay in either the long or short term. In effect, AES is proposing to clean up an existing environmental condition -- one that we did not cause -- without the need for government funding."
