Elected officials and community leaders who have been fighting the project said they felt vindicated by the report. They have contended the LNG facility would be dangerously close to homes in Dundalk-area neighborhoods, and that the terminal or tankers could be involved in accident or intentionally attacked by terrorists.
"This report shows the [Coast Guard officials] consider this a real threat," said Richard Muth, director of Baltimore County's Office of Homeland Security.
"This is what we've been saying since Day One," said County Councilman John Olszewski Sr. "This should be the nail in the coffin - I hope."
AES wants to build a LNG terminal at the former Bethlehem Steel shipyard to receive large tankers carrying imported, super-chilled, liquefied natural gas. Under the plan, the LNG would be returned to its gaseous state at the facility and pumped through an 87-mile pipeline to be built to southern Pennsylvania for distribution.
The Baltimore sector commander for the Coast Guard doesn't foresee needing to stop traffic on the Chesapeake Bay during the LNG transport, said Petty Officer Ayla Stevens.
But, she said, "It's always a possibility."
Ultimately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decides where LNG plants can locate. The agency consults the Coast Guard and requires the companies that want to build the LNG terminals to also get Clean Water, Clean Air Act and Coastal Zone Management Act permits.
Draft report in April
The commission plans to issue a draft report on the AES proposal in April. A final decision by the agency is expected in November.
County officials added LNG terminals to a list of facilities that are not allowed in a Chesapeake Bay Critical Area last year.
The county's modified coastal zone management plan has withstood one court challenge. But lawyers for AES have appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Lawyers for the global power supply company and for Baltimore County government presented oral arguments before a panel of federal appellate judges last month.
laura.barnhardt@baltsun.com
