USCG Appears to Prefer Closed-Loop Regasification System for ConocoPhillips

The Mobile Register is reporting that the USCG’s unpublished Interim Final Environmental Impact Statement included a recommendation that ConocoPhillips use a closed-loop regasification system rather than the open-loop favored by the company.  The issued Final EIS, however, did not make any recommendation regarding preferred systems, but did indicate that the open-loop system would impact aquatic life and reports that because of the proposed location of the facility, impacts on eggs and larvae are expected to be almost twice that of two nearby terminals proposed for east of the Mississippi.  The revisions to the FEIS came after letters from ConocoPhillips to the USCG arguing that the Coast Guard is not allowed to make such recommendations, but can only approve or reject the application. The FEIS also indicated that scientists would not be able to recognize the terminal’s impact on the redfish population until the population dropped by 36 percent, because anything less than that would be attributed to natural variations in fish populations.  Read more in today’s Mobile Register. [Access to archived articles requires a fee.]

Back to top