C7 RR2 POWELL RIVER BC, V8A 4Z3
PRESS RELEASE
November 23, 2007
LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS PLAN SPARKS COMMUNITY FEARS
A West Pac Liquefied Natural Gas proposal is giving many coastal resident nightmares. At a rally (see photo) attended by M.L.A. Nicholas Simons, Texada
Islanders added their voices to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) protests being held in communities from California to Washington State. Supporting Texada in the fight to keep an LNG processing plant off that island are Powell River residents. A Powell River engineer attending the rally had done the math: “If LNG tanks on Texada fail, my house goes too.”Marine transport of this fuel is also a cause for concern for coastal communities from Victoria to Texada. Specialized super-tankers used to transport the volatile LNG must maintain extremely complex cooling systems to keep the liquid from returning to its gaseous state. Because natural gas takes over 600 times as much space as the cooled liquid, if the cooling system fails, the pressure from gas expansion will expel it from the vessel. A cloud of natural gas, like mist, can float across the water, the beach and on to the land. If it encounters anything fairly hot – a spark, a barbeque, a cigarette – it ignites.
Concerns were expressed abou the effect that potential LNG accidents would have on insurance coverage and the costs to taxpayers of an LNG disaster. Shane Simpson, Energy Critic in the BC Legislature, who attended the rally encouraged the crowd to write letters to both the Provincial and Federal Governments.
It was reported that, in the U.S., both pleasure and commercial vessels are required to stay one mile away from LNG tankers – a significant disruption of normal marine traffic, even in calm seas.
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Contact: Jill Goudriaan tel 604 483 2368
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