On March 20, 2008, Clatsop County’s Board of Commissioners approved an application from Bradwood Landing LLC to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) marine terminal, natural gas pipeline, and related facilities at Bradwood. Bradwood is a rural industrial site on the banks of the Columbia River about 20 miles east of Astoria. This summary describes the county’s actions in reviewing the Bradwood proposal.
Bradwood Landing LLC first applied for land-use permits from Clatsop County on December 12, 2006. The applicant submitted a consolidated application for about two dozen county permits and approvals needed to build the terminal and pipeline and for related activities such as dredging and road improvements.
The county’s Community Development Department reviewed the initial application, found it to be incomplete, and asked for more information. Bradwood Landing provided that, and the department declared the application to be complete on February 14, 2007. The department then reviewed the application for compliance with the county’s comprehensive plan, land use ordinances, and applicable statewide planning goals. The results of that review were presented in a 226-page staff report of June 28, 2007, to the county’s planning commission.
The planning commission held two day-long public hearings, on July 10 and July 17, 2007. Almost two hundred people testified. After the hearings ended, the planning commission considered all the evidence, testimony, and staff reports in day-long deliberations on August 29. The commission recommended that the application be approved, subject to many conditions of approval.
The planning commission sent its recommendations to the county’s board of commissioners, which held two more public hearings, on October 22 and November 19, 2007. The board then considered all of the evidence, testimony and recommend-dations it had received. At deliberations during a public meeting on December 13, 2007, the board tentatively approved the consolidated application, subject to some three dozen conditions of approval. The tentative approval would become final if the applicant prepared suitable “findings of fact.” Such findings explain what evidence the board relied on and what reasoning it used to reach its decision.
The applicant prepared such findings and submitted them to the county in February 2008. County staff reviewed the proposed findings and suggested changes, which the applicant made. The board of commissioners reviewed the proposed findings in public meetings on March 5 and again on March 20, 2008, when it approved them.
Before voting, the commissioners discussed public safety issues. Bradwood must have agreements with emergency service responders signed before the county will issue a development permit for construction. The Board made a change to one condition, allowing Bradwood to return to the Board if it can’t reach an agreement with a particular agency. If that happens, the Board will hold a public hearing and make a decision based on the recommendations by the county’s public safety consultant, PBS&J. The Board added a new condition to its approval of the project – a memorandum of agreement with Bradwood Landing LLC and NorthernStar Energy LLC in which the company essentially agrees to honor the conditions, even if waived by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The county’s review of the Bradwood proposal now is mostly complete. The applicant, however, still must complete a county variance proceeding for improvements to Clifton Road. The applicant also must complete negotiations with several fire districts to determine what equipment and funding Bradwood Landing must provide to ensure public safety. Finally, conditions of approval require the applicant to submit several key documents, such as a mitigation plan, to the county. Such documents will be reviewed by county staff before local permits are issued.County approval is not the final step in Bradwood’s permitting process. Before the LNG terminal may be built, Bradwood Landing LLC also must obtain permits from several state agencies and get authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Review by those state and federal agencies is now under way.
Recent Bradwood LNG FERC Documents:
A letter to FERC from Miles and Linda Martin of Gales Creek outlining some of the problems they see with the LNG pipelines.
Overview of a conference call between FERC and Bradwood regarding the finalized impact statement.
A letter from the Nez Perce Tribe and a summary of the Lewis and Clark campsites.
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