Natural Gas Terminals

After four years of scrutiny, Long Beach officials Monday pulled the plug on a controversial energy project that promised an abundant new source of clean-burning liquefied natural gas for California but posed insurmountable safety concerns. In a unanimous vote, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners decided to end an environmental review of the project that was launched more than two years ago but had slipped far behind schedule.

A proposed natural gas terminal in Long Beach Harbor is in jeopardy as officials in that city express growing doubts about safety and other issues surrounding the $700-million project. The facility, one of several liquefied natural gas processing plants proposed for the West Coast, would be built in the harbor -- the only such project to be situated so close to a major urban center.

Ventura County's air quality board on Tuesday dealt a setback to a proposed $800-million liquefied natural gas processing plant that would be moored about 14 miles offshore between Oxnard and Malibu. The Air Pollution Control District board voted 9 to 0 to oppose a key permit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing.

The campaign to halt various proposals to build ccccccc off the Southern California coast has been a rather subdued affair -- until Sunday, when a parade of celebrities and surfers showed up in Malibu to join the protest. The target of the demonstration was a massive floating terminal proposed for about 14 miles off the coast by Australian mining giant BHP Billiton.

Saying California must protect its coastline, state treasurer and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides on Friday announced his opposition to an $800-million floating liquefied natural gas terminal that would be moored offshore between Oxnard and Malibu. Speaking to a crowd of local officials and environmentalists, Angelides used the Malibu coast as a backdrop to burnish his green credentials just five weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

Building a floating liquefied natural gas terminal 14 miles off the Ventura County coast may be safer than putting it on shore, but the proposed $800-million project has triggered intense opposition over its effect on air quality in smoggy Southern California. About 12,000 coastal residents have filed comments, mostly in protest, about a draft air pollution permit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing for Australia-based BHP Billiton, one of the world's largest energy companies.

The developer of a proposed $700-million liquefied natural gas terminal at the Port of Long Beach is pushing to extend its contract to retain exclusive rights to build the processing plant at the harbor. An agreement granting Sound Energy Solutions, a partnership of Mitsubishi and ConocoPhillips, the rights to build the terminal on a 25-acre harbor site is set to expire Thursday.

A catastrophic release of liquefied natural gas from a terminal proposed off the Ventura County coast could spread a powerful and spectacular fireball over several miles, but pose no threat on land because the facility would be at least 14 miles offshore, a new study shows. The gas-processing plant, one of four proposed for Southern California, would convert fuel shipped from across the Pacific Ocean for use in Los Angeles-area factories and power plants.

Australia's Woodside Energy, hoping to overcome environmental and safety concerns, is expected to unveil plans today to place a liquefied natural gas terminal in the Pacific Ocean about 22 miles south of Malibu. It would be the latest of half a dozen proposals to meet California's growing demand for clean-burning energy by importing liquefied natural gas. A debate over the safest way to handle the volatile fuel has dogged all of the projects.

The Long Beach police official assigned to study a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at the city's port raised questions Thursday about the conclusions in a draft report that determined the plant would not pose a significant risk. "It could in fact be safe. It's just not articulated in the report how they got there," said Deputy Police Chief Tim Jackman.