Source: Houston Chronicle
Houston liquefied natural gas company Texas LNG will face three opponents in an upcoming hearing to obtain a state air pollution permit and build an export terminal at the Port of Brownsville.
The State Office of Administrative Hearings held a preliminary hearing for the case in downtown Brownsville on Thursday morning.
Langtry Meyer, Chief Operating Officer with Texas LNG Vivek Chandra , CEO of Texas LNG and William S. Garner, Jr. with Greenberg Traurig in Houston, TX on Friday, October 16, 2015.
Photo: Thomas B. Shea
An official overseeing the hearing ruled that the City of Port Isabel, the retirement community of Long Island Village and the Laguna Heights community group Vecinos Para el Bienestar de la Comunidad Costera will all have legal status to testify against and oppose the company’s permit application during a Nov. 20 contested case hearing in Brownsville.
Texas LNG is seeking permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to build an export terminal capable of producing up to 4 million metric tons of LNG per year along the northern shore of the Brownsville Ship Channel.
Langtry Meyer, the company’s founder and chief operating officer, said the stands behind its project.
“Texas LNG is committed to responsible development and environmental protection, employing engineering and scientific best practices, such as the use of electric motors to minimize air emissions,” Meyer said in a statement. “Texas LNG strives to be a good neighbor and develop a positive, mutually beneficial relationship with the City of Port Isabel and other communities so that the company can evaluate and address everyone’s concerns.”
Texas LNG is the smallest of three liquefied natural gas export terminals proposed to be built at the Port of Brownsville. The projects represent nearly $40 billion of investment, thousands of construction jobs, hundreds of permanent jobs and an opportunity to boost U.S. exports.
Citing safety and environmental concerns. a coalition of shrimpers, fishermen, environmentalists, neighbors and community groups working under the banner Save RGV From LNG opposes the projects.
Texas LNG and the two other projects are still waiting on federal permit decisions, but environmental reviews expressed concern about the cumulative traffic, noise and habitat fragmentation they would have on the endangered ocelot, jaguarundi and aplomado falcon when combined with other projects in the area.
FERC officials wrote in an environmental review that the impacts of Texas LNG could be overcome as a single project through the proper mitigation efforts.
