Cove Point: Mikulski and Cardin ‘Exhort’ Federal Officials to Respond to a Call for Public Meetings Across MD

In response to rising concerns, senators ask Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “engage the public to the fullest extent possible”

Letter requests prompt response to calls for public meetings in Montgomery, Frederick, Garrett, Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties

ANNAPOLIS—Maryland’s powerful U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin have weighed in on the growing Cove Point gas export controversy by calling on federal officials to respond to a request for public meetings all across the state. In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the senators said expressions of concern from health, faith, environmental, and community leaders statewide have led them to ask FERC to respond promptly to a request for public meetings on Cove Point in Garrett, Frederick, Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties.

To date, FERC has agreed to hold only one public meeting—in Calvert County—for the proposed $3.8 billion Cove Point “liquefaction” and export facility for fracked gas. The project would take 770 million cubic feet of gas per day from all across the Marcellus Shale region of Appalachia, liquefy it to 260 degrees below zero, and then ship it to Asia via special tanker ships entering the Chesapeake Bay.

An outpouring of concern has emerged in recent months from citizens across the state—over possible new pipelines, fracking hazards, rising gas prices, and an increase in global warming pollution. Activists say these impacts would affect the entire state and therefore warrant official public meetings statewide in which FERC takes public comments and responds to these concerns.

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Why Four Marylanders Risked Arrest in Frederick to Stop Cove Point

Today, one week following a peaceful sit-in by four activists in Cumberland, four central Maryland residents were arrested outside the Frederick County Courthouse protesting the proposed Cove Point fracked gas export facility. The four protesters—including a county commission candidate, an asthma sufferer, a mother, and a Frederick resident who grew up playing baseball in Cove Point Park—blocked the courthouse entrance to demand a full and fair federal environmental impact review of Dominion’s controversial $3.8 billion plan.
In Frederick County, the citizens of Myersville are fighting Dominion over a 16,000 horsepower gas compressor that the company wants to build–despite unanimous opposition from the town council — less than a mile from the only elementary school. The Myersville compressor station is part of the web of fossil fuel infrastructure that Dominion could use to pipe gas from fracking wells across Appalachia to southern Maryland, where the gas would be liquefied and exported to Asia
In the following statements, the protesters explain why Cove Point matters to central Maryland, and why they engaged in peaceful civil disobedience to stop it. (Click here for a PDF of their statements.)
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Cove Point Protest Spreads: Four Arrested at Frederick Courthouse Over Fracked Gas Export Plan

Peaceful sit-in by central Maryland mothers, county commission candidate and Frederick resident follows Cumberland protest last week
Protesters demand justice for Frederick Co. residents facing pollution from Dominion gas compressor linked to Cove Point
FREDERICK—One week following a peaceful sit-in that led to four arrests in Cumberland, four central Maryland residents were arrested today outside the Frederick County Courthouse protesting Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ plan to build a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland. With signs reading “FERC: Don’t Bully Frederick Co.” and “We Demand Justice for Myersville,” the four protesters—including a county commission candidate, an asthma sufferer, a mother, and a Frederick resident who grew up playing baseball in Cove Point Park—blocked the courthouse entrance and demanded a full and fair federal environmental impact review of Dominion’s controversial $3.8 billion plan.
From Cumberland to Frederick, protesters are drawing attention to the interconnected, statewide impacts that could be triggered by the Cove Point export facility, including the invasion of dangerous gas fracking wells and related gas pipeline and compressor infrastructure.
“Dominion doesn’t respect the wishes of the citizens of Myersville, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is failing to protect the public,” said Steve Bruns, a Frederick resident who is running for a seat on the county commission. “Dominion has sued the Town of Myersville and the Maryland Department of the Environment to force its gas compressor project on our county. This sort of contempt for the health and safety of the people of Maryland is unacceptable in a democratic society. Our government isn’t getting the message, so we’re here today to crank up the volume.”

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Western MDers Arrested at Cumberland Courthouse in Protest of Cove Point Fracked Gas Export Plan

Local minister joins western MD students and resident for peaceful sit-in demanding a full federal Environmental Impact Statement for $3.8 billion project that could fast-track fracking
CUMBERLAND—A local Unitarian minister and three western Maryland residents were arrested just before noon today outside the Allegany County Courthouse in Cumberland for peacefully protesting Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ plan to build a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland. The protesters blocked the courthouse entrance to demand justice in the controversial federal handling of the massive $3.8 billion project, which would take nearly a billion cubic feet of gas per day from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it on the Chesapeake Bay, and export it to Asia.
“I am here today as both a citizen of this beautiful state and as a minister deeply concerned that the proposed Cove Point gas export facility would take us in exactly the wrong direction,” said Reverend Terence Ellen, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Greater Cumberland. “It is inconceivable to me that a project so huge and so potentially harmful to our health and welfare would not even receive a full Environmental Impact Statement. We’re sitting in today because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is failing to serve the public.”
Joining Rev. Ellen were three young people, including two native residents of Cumberland who are students at Frostburg University and a local Frostburg resident who has seen the impacts of fracking elsewhere. With signs reading “Don’t Bring Fracking to W. Maryland” and “This Is Our Public Comment!” they specifically called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct a full and fair Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Cove Point. They also appealed to Governor Martin O’Malley and members of Congress to break their silence and join them in demanding this most rigorous and participatory type of environmental review.

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Why Four Maryland Citizens Risked Arrest in Cumberland to Stop Cove Point

Today, a Unitarian minister, two students native to western Maryland, and another local resident engaged in a peaceful sit-in outside the Allegany County Courthouse in Cumberland to protest Cove Point. This massive $3.8 billion project, proposed by Virginia-based Dominion, would take nearly a billion cubic feet of gas per day from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it on the Chesapeake Bay, and export it to Asia.
The four Maryland citizens were arrested after blocking the courthouse entrance to demand justice in the controversial federal handling of Cove Point. Despite the potentially region-transforming fracking, pollution, and climate impacts of Dominion’s plan, federal regulators have thus far refused to conduct a full and fair Environmental Impact Statement — the type of review most protective of public health and safety and customary for a polluting facility as huge as Cove Point.
In the following statements, the protesters explain why Cove Point matters to Western Marylanders, and why they engaged in peaceful civil disobedience to stop it. (Click here for a PDF of their full statements.)
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Cove Point Makes National Headlines

Six months ago, few average Marylanders had heard of “Cove Point,” let alone understood the stakes for our communities and climate. Now, the fight to stop Dominion Resources’ proposed fracked gas export facility on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland is making state and national headlines.
The issue broke onto the national scene in January when national climate leader and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben coauthored A Big Fracking Lie in Politico Magazine with CCAN’s director Mike Tidwell. The opinion piece was a big (anti-)fracking success and, at more than 10,000 shares, it was one of the most shared Politico pieces in January. The piece explained in detail why Cove Point would be a disaster for our climate, spurring a new wave of fracking in the mid-Atlantic and causing climate polluting emissions equivalent to burning coal, and challenged President Obama to abandon his support for fracked gas exports.

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Is The Cove Point Liquified Natural Gas Terminal The Next Keystone XL?

The Huffington Post
by Caroline Selle
There was a time when “Stop the Keystone XL!” seemed like an unlikely rallying cry for the U.S. environmental movement. After all, plenty of pipelines receive permits every year without much outrage, so why would TransCanada’s request be any different? Plus, the fuel was coming from Canada, the country’s friendly northern neighbor. What could be the downside?
Plenty, according to environmental advocates. From the First Nations people who live near extraction sites in Canada, to Nebraskan farmers and ranchers concerned about the pipeline crossing a major aquifer, to families who live in Texas neighborhoods polluted by refineries, lots of people have a stake in the fight. And for climate activists, the pipeline is a test of the Obama administration’s seriousness about cutting greenhouse gas emissions and ending reliance on fossil fuels. The pipeline quickly became a symbol of resistance and the center of the fight over climate policy.
If the Keystone XL is approved (an answer is expected as soon as late May), what will the U.S. environmental movement rally around next? The power plant rules that the Environmental Protection Agency is working on will be an important step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but there’s no clear “ask,” as organizers like to say, other than “please finalize them.”
Enter the Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. Located in Lusby, Md., Cove Point sits on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, only a 90-minute drive from Washington, D.C. Local environmental groups want to make Cove Point the next Keystone XL when it comes to organizing opposition.
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Environmental Groups Call For Rejection Of Cove Point Expansion

WAMU 88.5
By: Jonathan Wilson
The Maryland Public Service commission is in the midst of deciding whether Dominion can move forward with a $3.8 billion expansion of its Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas facility in Calvert County and environmental groups continue to put pressure on state officials to reject the plan.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on War Memorial Plaza in downtown Baltimore, many holding signs with anti-fracking slogans, or mini cardboard windmills to show their support for energy alternatives.
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, compared the current fight to stop Dominion’s natural gas export plans to the battle, decades ago, to get the truth out about the health risks of tobacco.
“And that’s why we need an Environmental Impact Statement, because it is the equivalent of a Surgeon General’s report,” Tidwell said. “We need a Surgeon General’s report for Cove Point, when that comes out, Marylanders will be appalled and repelled by this idea and it won’t get built.”
But Dominion maintains that voices like Tidwell’s are simply a vocal minority, and point out that exporting more natural gas is part of the President’s clean energy agenda.
Jeff Guido is a spokesman for the Maryland state pipe trades association — a union whose members would get many of the thousands of construction jobs that would come with the project. He says the economic benefits of Cove Point would ripple across the state.
“We need it, we need it bad,” Guido said. “You’ll see that when a construction worker goes to work, and he knows he’s got some employment in front of him — they’re all gonna go out and buy a new pick up truck, it’s just what we do.”
After this week’s evidentiary hearing, the Public Service Commission will gather input from residents close to Cove point at a public hearing in Lusby on March 1.

Hundreds rally to oppose Cove Point project

The Baltimore Sun
By Jamie Smith Hopkins
An estimated 500 people rallied Thursday in Baltimore against plans to export liquefied natural gas from a Southern Maryland facility, chanting and carrying signs past the office tower where state regulators were considering one aspect of that proposal.
The authority to approve or reject the project lies with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. But Maryland’s Public Service Commission has the say over a 130-megawatt power plant that energy company Dominion says it needs for the export operation.
The proposal has drawn powerful support — including from Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Southern Maryland Democrat — as well as opposition from the Sierra Club and other groups, largely on environmental grounds. Both sides used this week’s hearings as an opportunity to get their message out.
Dominion, which owns the Cove Point complex, held a news conference Wednesday with supporters, including a construction union official and a Maryland manufacturer. They characterized the project as an economic boon and said exporting natural gas to replace coal would help the environment.
The rally against the project drew people from across the state — many opposed to a controversial technique known as “fracking” used to extract natural gas — and temporarily closed streets in downtown Baltimore at lunchtime. Speakers included Del. Heather Mizeur, a Democrat who is running for governor.
“I’ve been doing this for 12 years,” said Mike Tidwell, executive director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, which helped organize Thursday’s event and estimated the crowd at about 700. “I’ve never been at an environmental rally … this big.”
A police spokesman could not provide a crowd estimate Thursday. Dominion spokesman Chet Wade said it counted fewer than 300 people.
Opponents contend that exporting natural gas from Cove Point would increase demand for hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting the gas that environmentalists say pollutes groundwater and air but that the industry says is safe.
Dominion officials said the project should not be seen as a “proxy” for fracking, including whether to allow the method in Maryland. Cove Point exports could come from as far afield as the Gulf Coast through the country’s network of pipelines, said Pamela F. Faggert, the company’s chief environmental officer.
“Nor would stopping the Cove Point project likely reduce fracking elsewhere,” Faggert said. “Cove Point exports would account for only a small sliver of the gas that could be produced in the United States. Without Cove Point, the only question is where the natural gas would go instead.”
That argument didn’t fly with rally participants. Paul Roberts, who runs a winery in Western Maryland and sits on the state commission studying fracking, said he’s concerned the state will be under far more pressure to allow the technique if natural gas interests can export from Cove Point.
“It would be very terrible if all the work we’ve put in is undermined,” Roberts said.
Cove Point is an import facility for liquefied natural gas. The market for bringing that product into the country has dwindled as fracking fueled a natural gas boom in the U.S.
Expanding Dominion’s Calvert County complex to allow exporting would cost as much as $3.8 billion. The company would pay an additional $40 million in annual property taxes for five years, then receive a tax break of 42 percent for nine years.
Drew Greenblatt, president of Marlin Steel Wire Products, a Baltimore manufacturer, is among those who spoke in favor of Cove Point at Dominion’s news conference.
“A thriving natural gas industry, one with access to all potential markets, including overseas markets … will mean more demand for our products in America,” he said. “We should take advantage of it, and we’re very lucky that this has happened to our state.”
Hearings in the Public Service Commission case began Thursday. A hearing for public comment is scheduled for March 1 at Patuxent High School in Lusby, near Cove Point.
The agency must make a decision on the power plant by May 30. The FERC has not set a timeline for a decision, Dominion said.
The early hours of Thursday’s hearing revolved around the project’s impact. Sierra Club attorney Joshua Berman, highlighting reports suggesting that exporting would cause domestic natural gas prices to rise and promote the use of coal, asked a Dominion executive whether he agreed with those conclusions.
Michael D. Frederick, vice president of LNG operations at Cove Point, said the U.S. Department of Energy — which gave Cove Point its OK to export — is charged with ensuring that the move is in the country’s interests.

Stop Cove Point: Largest Environmental Protest in Baltimore History Calls on Leaders to Reject Radical Fracked Gas Export Plan

As key state permit hearing begins, grassroots activists from across Maryland march around the Public Service Commission headquarters

Protesters appeal to Governor O’Malley, Senators Cardin and Mikulski to demand a full federal environmental impact review

BALTIMORE—Today, as a key state permit hearing began in downtown Baltimore, activists from every corner of Maryland and from across the Mid-Atlantic marched from a nearby plaza to the doorstep of the Public Service Commission to send one clear message to state leaders: “Stop Cove Point.” This controversial $3.8 billion project, proposed by Virginia-based Dominion Resources, would take gas from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it along the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland, and export it to Asia.

See photos from Thursday’s rally at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesapeakeclimate/sets/72157641279897563/

The 700-strong demonstration, estimated to be the largest environmental protest in Baltimore city history, united people whose land, homes and health are threatened by the new regionwide wave of harmful fracking, climate change pollution, and explosion-prone gas infrastructure that Dominion’s plan could trigger. Analysis shows that the process of drilling, piping, liquefying and exporting gas is as bad as—or worse—for the climate than burning coal. In fact, Cove Point would become the single biggest trigger of planet-heating pollution in the state of Maryland. 

Stop Cove Point Rally February 20
Rally participants literally carried their “Stop Cove Point” message to the Public Service Commission—marching a 100-foot-long gas pipeline prop emblazoned with those words around the agency’s headquarters. Inside, attorneys representing environmental groups testified against Dominion’s application for a permit to build a 130-megawatt gas-fired “liquefaction” complex at Cove Point. By every measure—including raising prices for ratepayers, impacting air and water, and degrading local quality of life—they argued that Dominion’s plan would overwhelmingly benefit the gas industry at the expense of Maryland’s economy and environment. 

Demonstrators also called for leadership, not more silence, from Maryland’s elected officials, especially Governor Martin O’Malley and U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. Speakers called on them to ensure that federal regulators give the people of Maryland the full and customary Environmental Impact Statement typically required for a project of Cove Point’s size and scope—the type of review backed by 81 percent of Maryland voters in a recent poll.

Stop Cove Point Rally February 20

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