Media Contact:
Rebekah Staub, Permian-Gulf Communications Manager, rstaub@earthworks.org
WASHINGTON — More than 20 organizations called on the Maritime Administration (MARAD) today to deny Venture Global’s application for a liquefied methane gas (LNG) export terminal proposed offshore of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
In their letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and MARAD Administrator Ann Phillips, the groups cite MARAD’s own rules that set a 330-day timeframe for the approval or rejection of a deepwater port license. West Delta has failed to provide adequate information to support their application in that time and has already exceeded the regulatory timeline for project applications by 912 days. The most recent extension requires that West Delta submit an amended application by March 1.
“By its own rules, the Biden administration is overdue to deny this massively polluting project in the Gulf,” said Lauren Parker, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “For more than three years, West Delta LNG has failed to provide the necessary information for environmental review. Our planet is smoldering, and the government shouldn’t be bending the rules for the oil and gas companies fanning the flames.”
The proposed port has the potential to emit more than one million tons of greenhouse gasses and 1,619 tons of criteria air pollutants each year, jeopardizing climate goals and worsening air quality. The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has recommended the project reduce wetland impacts and avoid valuable oyster reef habitat. The pipeline and offshore facility would be located in areas which have been identified as potential sources of material for coastal restoration efforts in Louisiana.
West Delta LNG is one of five deepwater port applications awaiting approval from the Department of Transportation for export terminals off the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Despite pledging to prioritize climate change and environmental justice in its decision making, the Biden administration recently approved a series of oil and LNG export projects along the Gulf Coast, including Commonwealth LNG export terminal in Cameron, Louisiana and the Sea Port Oil Terminal offshore Brazoria County, Texas. Communities on the frontlines of these polluting facilities have long been calling for an end to reckless fossil fuel export expansion.