Although Dundalk residents have grown accustomed to living alongside industrial smokestacks and factories, many community leaders feel that the LNG plant poses dangers that won't be offset by the jobs generated by, for example, the steel plant. AES officials have said the LNG plant would generate about 50 permanent jobs.
The project has support from labor groups, including the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO. Union leaders estimate that the construction of the LNG plant and pipeline would generate about 375 full-time jobs for four years. AES has promised that the work would be done with union labor.
Last month, a federal appeals court struck down a county law that banned LNG plants as part of the local coastal zone management plan, aimed at protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
And earlier this year, staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recommended conditional approval for the LNG project.
Residents and elected officials asked the officials to reconsider the preliminary findings.
"I don't know of any issue as serious or as potentially disastrous as this one here," state Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr. said.
Ruppersberger said, "This facility is wrong for the neighborhood, wrong for the bay and wrong for our nation's security."
Last night's hearing was the first of three public forums this week about the project. Other hearings are scheduled tomorrow at East Brandywine Fire Hall, 2096 Bondsville Road in Downingtown, Pa.; and Thursday at the Richlin Ballroom, 1700 Van Bibber Road, Edgewood. Both hearings begin at 7 p.m.
The commission will also accept written comments on the draft report through Monday. The Army Corps of Engineers will accept comments through June 26. A final staff report is expected to be complete in mid-August, with the five-member commission tentatively scheduled to make a final decision by the end of November.
laura.barnhardt@baltsun.com
