Federal officials are recommending conditional approval for a liquefied natural gas terminal at Sparrows Point, over the objections of community leaders and elected officials.
In a preliminary report released yesterday, the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded that the project proposed by AES Corp. could be "environmentally acceptable" with additional work.
The report calls for the Arlington, Va., company to address such issues as how to handle the sediment that would have to be dredged from the Patapsco River to accommodate the large tankers carrying the imported liquid gas.
Under the company proposal, the terminal would be built at the old Bethlehem Steel shipyard, where the LNG would be returned to its gaseous state and pumped to Pennsylvania through an 88-mile pipeline to be built for distribution.
A final staff report is expected to be complete in mid-August, with the five-member commission tentatively scheduled to make a final decision about the project by the end of November.
In justifying its findings yesterday, the agency's staff said the proposed location is an "industrial port setting" and the pipeline would follow existing rights of way for much of the proposed route.
The initial report doesn't assure approval, but it does indicate that the project is moving forward, according to industry experts.
The commissioners have rejected only one LNG project. Six LNG import terminals have been built or are under construction in the United States. Three times as many - 22 - LNG projects have been approved by FERC and the U.S. Coast Guard but are being held up by lawsuits or finances.
Baltimore County officials and community leaders said they were reviewing and analyzing the report yesterday afternoon. Called a draft Environmental Impact Statement - even though it also covers security, economic and other issues - the report released yesterday is hundreds of pages long.
Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman, said County Executive James T. Smith Jr. continues to believe that the proposed location of the LNG terminal is dangerous and would be detrimental to the nearby communities.
"Jim Smith continues to stand with families in eastern Baltimore County to oppose this facility, and that is not going to change," she said.
Security worries
