Maryland officials should not block a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed in eastern Baltimore County, the federal Department of Commerce said yesterday in a decision that could provide more momentum for the project's approval.
Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez concluded that the need for natural gas outweighs any environmental damage that could be caused by the LNG terminal and the dredging that would be needed in the Patapsco River to accommodate the tankers importing the fuel.
"The impact of dredging to fish and aquatic vegetation will not be significant," according to the Commerce report, which notes that the project would "help meet regional energy demand by providing enough natural gas capacity to heat approximately 3.5 million homes per day or to generate electricity for 7.5 million homes per day."
The ruling from the federal agency does not guarantee approval for the project, but the decision is another disappointment to elected officials and community leaders fighting the plan by AES Corp. to build the terminal at the old Bethlehem Steel shipyard site on Sparrows Point. Once the liquid is processed, it would be distributed for use through an 88-mile pipeline, under the company's plan.
In a written statement, Kent Morton, AES project manager, called the Commerce Department finding an "important ... step in the process toward bringing more clean-burning natural gas to Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region."
But elected officials, including Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., rushed to criticize the decision by Gutierrez.
"I remain firmly opposed to a new LNG facility and will examine legislative options to stop this project. ... This is not the last step, or the only step. We will fight on," Mikulski said in a statement.
In July last year, the Maryland Department of the Environment reviewed the AES proposal and found that there was not enough information to determine whether it violated the Coastal Zone Management Act, and that - in essence - if forced to make a decision at that point, officials would conclude the project did not meet the state's environmental standards.
But in yesterday's 44-page decision, the Commerce Department concluded AES had provided enough information to show its project meets an overriding goal of the CZMA, meeting the nation's energy needs.
