A company seeking to build a liquefied natural gas facility on Sparrows Point is scheduled to be in court today to try to overturn a law designed to stop the project.
AES Corp., a global power-supply company, says Baltimore County has repeatedly tried to interfere with the federal approval process for energy projects.
Baltimore County officials say they are allowed to prohibit certain uses, such as LNG terminals, along the waterfront as part of the state and federally sanctioned Coastal Zone Management Act.
The dueling motions filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court by the AES and county attorneys over the legality of the county's amendment to its Critical Areas Plan are part of the legal wrangling involved in the two-year-and-counting fight over the project.
A motions hearing is scheduled for this afternoon before Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul F. Harris Jr.
The AES has also appealed a federal judge's decision to uphold the county's prohibition on LNG facilities in coastal areas. The company is seeking to have the Department of Commerce overrule a finding by Maryland that the proposed Sparrows Point facility isn't consistent with the coastal zone management program.
Eastern Baltimore County neighborhood activists and elected officials, including Maryland's Congress members, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., are opposed to the LNG project.
They say they're concerned about possible accidents and terrorist attacks at the facility, which they say is too close to homes. And they say the dredging of the Patapsco River required to accommodate the LNG tankers would stir up toxic muck that could harm fish and crabs.
The AES was dealt a setback last month when the State Highway Administration said that company wouldn't likely be allowed to build a pipeline from its proposed LNG plant to southern Pennsylvania along sections of the Baltimore Beltway.
Forced to redraw a route for the pipeline and do more tests, the company's project has been delayed.
Ultimately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decides where LNG plants can locate. The commission consults with the Coast Guard and other state and federal agencies. But the companies that want to build the facilities must also obtain Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Coastal Zone Management Act permits.
