Despite opposition from state officials, the prospects have improved for a proposed $700-million liquefied natural gas terminal that would be built at the Port of Long Beach.
The Long Beach City Council has no immediate plans to take a stand on the project. And local opposition has dwindled in recent months.
Even so, state Public Utilities Commission officials oppose siting a terminal in the densely populated harbor area, warning that a terrorist attack, earthquake or accident could cause catastrophic damage. A nationally known expert hired by the commission recently concluded a fire could kill or burn people within three miles, an area that includes downtown Long Beach and 130,000 residents.
Project developers dispute that, citing their own studies and a draft environmental report that conclude a terminal fire would not harm people outside the port.
With the last two public hearings on that environmental report scheduled for today and Thursday, the proposal could become a test case that pits the safety concerns of state officials against the Bush administration's desire to fast-track approvals for such terminals.
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas that has been chilled to 260 degrees below zero, which shrinks it to 1/600th of its volume. That allows large quantities to be shipped from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Australia.
Such shipments have occurred for decades with few safety problems. But after Sept. 11, 2001, concerns grew that ships and facilities delivering the gas could become terrorist targets. And a January 2004 accident at an LNG facility in Skikda, Algeria, in which 27 people died and 80 were injured, drew more attention to the potential for disaster.
Only five liquefied natural gas terminals operate in the United States today, but rising prices and dwindling supplies have prompted a flurry of proposals in coastal cities nationwide. Many have stirred fierce opposition from residents.
In California, local opposition forced the cancellation of projects in Eureka and in Vallejo in the Bay Area.
The relative quiet in Long Beach, which would play host to the first West Coast terminal, has surprised some project supporters and critics, especially in view of the fight being waged 67 miles north against the only other major project in the state, a proposed terminal 14 miles off the Ventura County coast.
