SWELL SHELL!

What great news! The Gumbo Alliance was finally victorious in our opposition to Shell's fish-killing, off-shore LNG terminal, Gulf Landing. Congrats and great work to all who made this possible - the sportsmen and concerned citizens who flooded Shell and Governor Blanco with faxes, phone calls and postcards; the funders who paid for the banner we towed over the Shell-sponsored Jazz Fest last year (Shell - Thanks for the music, don't kill our fish) and allowed Mike Lane and I to head to the Hague to take our concerns directly to Shell's CEO, President, Board and Shareholders; the fishermen who trailered their boats and circled Shell gas stations and head quarters in New Orleans, Houston and Pensacola; the agency scientists and concerned citizens who sorted through the various, often erroneous environmental impact statement appendices to really get a handle on what kind of fish impacts were at stake; the dogged concerned citizens who showed up at hearing after hearing to speak out in opposition to these projects; the Sierra Club and their canvassers who went door to door throughout New Orleans alerting the public; the Green Corps organizers who went where the fight was and joined us in the Gulf for a few crazy months; Walter Williams, who put Mr. Bill and his wit to work for the cause; the charter boat captains and commercial and recreational fishermen who packed the hearing in Baton Rouge and ensured some political leadership on this issue; the politicians who followed that public outcry; every founding and supporting member of the Gumbo Alliance; and finally, the student attorneys and their instructors who stood in there against the department of justice to challenge MARAD's flawed permit (and likely bought us the time we needed to win).

Whew. A lot of people put a lot of time and resources into this fight. It really shows what can be done when disparate interests put aside their disagreements to focus on a single issue and bring their passion and expertise to bear.

And whatever reasoning Shell uses to explain this decision, today is an important day for fish and the health of the Gulf. Thanks again for making it happen.


Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

SHELL HIRES HEAVY HITTER FOR SHALE

With oil prices hovering at about $60/barrel, record profits last year and a vast swath of the Gulf of Mexico set to be opened to oil & gas development, Shell Oil seems to be pretty set up for another successful year. The multi-national corporation closed out the year with a new hire that should allow them to make the most of the waning days of the Bush Administration, adding former Interior Secretary and enviro enemy no. 1 Gale Norton as General Counsel.

As current Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorn was making the rounds discussing the Fish & Wildlife Service's proposal to add polar bears to the endangered species list due to the impacts of climate change, it's easy to imagine his predecessor getting her affairs in order to head up a full-scale push to gain federal support for oil shale development. Of course, there are very few actions that would do more to doom polar bears (and all coastal cities) then paving the road to U.S. energy independence with shale.

For every big enviro effort that Shell proudly backs (America's Wetland, the Restore America's Estuaries conference) , another news item casts doubt on their environmental commitment. Whether our concerns about their open-loop, fish-killing machine in the Gulf - or the myriad of concerns across the globe, this recent staffing decision does nothing to ease doubts.

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

MR. BILL SAYS "SHELL NOOOO!"

I met with a local media activist last week, to discuss ways we can use some of the cool new internet sites and technology out there to further our campaigns (think blogging but hotter - more like you tube, or our myspace page). I showed him our Mr. Bill spot from earlier this year as an example of the two-minute video action alert idea. He asked the obvious question, "have you put the Mr. Bill short up on you tube?"

Now I can answer, yes, we have.




So check it out, then go to you tube to rate it, share it, add it to your favorites, all those things we need to do to get the video to blow up and help tell the world that Shell's willing to gamble with our Gulf fish for their profit. Remind them you still think that's a bad idea.

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

LNG HEATS UP AND GOES COLD AGAIN

How crazy is this? I've been getting geared up to fight another off-shore, open-loop LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. This terminal, proposed by ConocoPhillips, would be 50 miles off Galveston Texas, in some hot fishing waters, and could have killed the equivalent of 16% of Texas' annual redfish catch by sucking in hundreds of millions of gallons of Gulf seawater loaded with fish eggs and zooplankton, before spitting the water, chilled, chlorinated and lifeless back into the Gulf.

We were concerned.

And then this hits the federal docket:So, after paying environmental contractors to put together some 1,300 pages of analysis showing why their terminal is the best thing to hit the Gulf since Spindletop, they're jerking their application?

This makes no sense. Did they finally realize that Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco wasn't just whistling Dixie when she said she wasn't going to permit any further open-loop terminals in the Gulf? Did they JUST realize that Louisiana was an adjacent coastal state for their terminal, giving the Gov a veto opportunity?

I don't know - but I'm relieved.

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

TWO HUGE WINS AND A LITTLE DISAPPOINTMENT

I tell ya, sometimes the stars line up in a big smiley face... The great news is that ConocoPhillips withdrew their proposal for their fish-killing open-loop LNG terminal off Dauphin Island, AL in the face of Governor Riley'’s unwavering opposition. Read the article here. We owe the Governor a big debt of gratitude for his willingness to stand toe-to-toe with Conoco and say "do better and protect the Gulf's fish." Tell him thanks here.

The other huge win was shutting down the MRGO - the hurricane highway. The House-Senate conference committee, due to Senator Mary Landrieu's leadership, included language deauthorizing the MRGO as a deep-draft navigation channel, and directing the Corps of Engineers to develop a plan to close this wetlands-destroying, public-safety nightmare. Clearly, the details of that plan are going to be critical, as there will be a lot of pressure to keep it as navigable as possible to appease the Port of New Orleans and other shipping interests.

I'm hopeful that this marks a new day for our political leaders, indicating a commitment to restoring wetlands and protecting people through our natural barriers, even if it means bucking the status quo and the knee-jerk, short-term concerns of corporate interests. Read the AP article on the issue here. Thank Louisiana's Senators here.

The one disappointment was the decision by the Federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on our challenge to Shell's LNG terminal permit. You can read the ruling here.

We a’re disappointed, but we know the writing is on the wall for future open-loop LNG terminals in the Gulf, and will continue to appeal to Shell to abandon their flawed proposal, and close-the loop on Gulf Landing. On the whole, the continuing opposition to open-loop LNG by Gulf Governors is far more important than the 5th Circuit’s denial of our appeal, and the pressure is on future off-shore terminals to only move forward in the permitting process if they're serious about closed-loop options.

That said, TORP technology will be holding scoping hearings for their terminal next week in Mobile. The TORP terminal will be 63 miles south of Mobile, in the Gulf and is yet another open-loop proposal! Please make plans to come out June 14th and point out the error of TORP'’s ways. Here'’s the low-down from the Federal Register.

I think we've drawn the line in the sand, but the pressure is on to defend it. TORP provides an important opportunity, but we need to tell Shell about the Conoco decision, and urge Shell to mend their flawed proposal, lawsuit or no. Take action to thank Governor Riley and urge Shell to follow his lead here.

For our fish and our future,

Aaron

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

The Dutch - so polite, so committed to open-loop

I'm typing this from the Amsterdam airport, waiting for our flight home. The Royal Dutch Shell shareholder meeting went well. Both Mike Lane and I were able to address the board of directors and the assembled shareholders, both in the Hague and London (via teleconferencing). We did have a meeting with a VP for Gas and Power. While at the end of the day, I think our disagreement over open vs. closed-loop is pretty black and white, Shell treated our group well and were quite accomodating. Here's the NOLA Times-Picayune coverage

Mike spoke to the board first, and I followed, trying to clear up a mischaracterization of Gulf Landing used by Linda Cook (chief executive of gas and power for Shell) in her response to Mike's question about the project. Unfortunately, as Shell has often done in the past and continues to do, they state that the state wildlife and fisheries department and the Governor of Louisiana support the project. While the Governor may (you would need to ask her), the state agency remains opposed to this technology, and though their experts are indeed involved in the advisory group shell has put together, they retain their opposition to the project.

I pointed that out clearly in my response to the board. After the meeting we were able to discuss the project with Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's CEO, underscoring our concerns in person, face to face. Unfortunately, Linda Cook did not make herself available to discuss the project.

They are highly aware of the concerns over the project, as well as our litigation, but currently seem committed to building in open-loop - though construction has not yet commenced. So there's still time to convince them - and we'll keep educating the public about our concerns, and urge folks to communicate those concerns to Shell.

Aaron Viles is the Campaign Director for the GRN

Gumbo Alliance Goes International
Tired of Houston's Shell Games, RodNReel.com & GRN Head to the Hague

On the heels of last week’s significant victories in securing fish-friendly closed-loop LNG terminals for the Gulf of Mexico, the Gumbo Alliance for Safe LNG, an unlikely coalition of commercial and recreational fishing interests working alongside conservation groups and environmentalists, will be pressing their advantage in front of the shareholders and board of Royal Dutch Shell. Currently Shell is the only energy corporation with both the permit and intent to build an off-shore, open rack vaporizer, gravity based terminal to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Gulf of Mexico.

On Friday, May 5, Louisiana’s Governor Kathleen Blanco followed through on her pledge to veto any further open-loop LNG terminal permits unless environmental impacts could be shown to be negligible. In issuing the veto of Freeport McMoRan’s Main Pass Energy Hub terminal, Governor Blanco cited the ongoing, unanimous concerns of fisheries experts and managers from the federal, regional and state levels. Within 24 business hours, Freeport announced they would build their terminal closed-loop. With Governor Blanco’s decision receiving the vocal support of Alabama’s Governor Riley, the Gumbo Alliance believes the writing is on the wall for further open-loop terminals in the Gulf of Mexico. “We’re proud of Governor Blanco for standing up for fisheries and standing down Freeport,” said Charlie Smith with the Louisiana Charter Boat Association. “Freeport’s response proves we’ve been correct all along: we can protect our fish and develop LNG profitably in this state.”

While a legal challenge brought by members of the Gumbo Alliance to Shell’s Gulf Landing permit is still undecided, the Alliance has decided to attend the Royal Dutch Shell annual general meeting of stockholders in the Netherlands Tuesday, May 16th to appeal directly to the International Board of Directors. “Our game plan is simple,” said Mike Lane, publisher of RodNReel.com, ”Shell continues to tout their commitment to coastal Louisiana as well as their international commitments to sustainability and protecting biodiversity – we’re gonna ask them to walk the walk. This is a corporation that cleared well over $2 million an hour last quarter, it would cost them less than one day’s profit to develop Gulf Landing in a fish-friendly fashion.”

Mr. Lane will be attending the shareholder meeting on the official behalf of As You Sow, a non-profit foundation and Shell shareholder directed by former Sierra Club president Larry Fahn. Mr. Fahn attended the first Gumbo Alliance trailered boat parade around New Orleans’ One Shell Square in May of 2005. Mr. Lane and Aaron Viles, the Campaign Director with the Gulf Restoration Network will communicate the Gumbo Alliance’s concerns to the Royal Dutch Shell board of directors and shareholders as well as the international media in attendance.

The Gulf Restoration Network will hand-deliver 1,500 postcards to Shell that the organization collected at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, recently sponsored by Shell. “Overwhelmingly, people were thankful for Shell’s sponsorship of Jazz Fest, but they also support Shell doing everything in their power to guarantee that the Gulf’s fish populations are protected for the long term,” said Viles. “That’s what the postcards say, that’s what the banner towed over Jazz Fest said – Thanks for the music Shell, don’t kill our fish.”

LNG: Blanco takes it down to the wire while Shell's fish impacts explode

Wow, what a week for LNG. The fine folks at Freeport McMoRan are continuing their charm offensive to convince the Governor to ignore her pledge to veto further open-loop LNG terminals in the Gulf. They've lined up every chamber of commerce-type available to swear aligance to their company and the fish-killing technology they'd like to use. They bought a fundamentally flawed, one-week study of marine life at their project site, 16 miles off the mouth of the Mississippi River in the Gulf, and proclaimed the area devoid of sea life. That's about as accurate as calling their efforts in Indonesia 'humanitarian aid.'

The good news is that this week the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries finished their exhaustive analysis of the Freeport EIS and declared their continued opposition to the project's use of open-loop vaporization technology. The Gov has been indicating that she will follow their recommendation, so we're terribly hopeful she'll announce her veto tomorrow. Give her a call and help urge her along: 1-866-366-1121. Or e-mail her here.

This is huge, as it would be the first veto of one of these terminals, and set the precedent that every fish management agency in the Gulf has been hoping for. All we really need is one of these multinational energy corporations to come back to the table with a closed-loop proposal, and everyone else with plans to build an off-shore fish-killing machine will be shown to be the corporate greed-heads we've made them out to be.

Speaking of corporate greed-heads planning to kill fish, Shell has been sponsoring the heck out of the New Orleans Jazz Fest this year - with their logo plastered over every available J Fest ad and surface at the Fairgrounds. We've been outside making our case to Fest-goers and will continue that effort this weekend. We've got flyers, stickers and shirts telling Shell "Thanks for the music - don't kill our fish."

Shoot me an e-mail if you want to help out this weekend. This Saturday (weather permitting) we'll have a plane towing that same message over the Fest for an hour as well!

The biggest Shell news this week came from a peer-review of the industry-funded LNG fish impacts analysis. While the industry-funded science found that there was nothing to worry about, impacts will be negligable yada yada (surprise). The review we contracted for pointed out some significant problems with the industry-funded study(gasp!), as well as isolated a data transcription error in the initial Shell EIS. Correcting that error shows a 220% increase in potential impacts to Gulf red snapper populations! The initial opposition to Shell's terminal stemmed from a red drum impact that was projected to potentially be as high as 5% of Louisiana's annual catch. Well, with this correction we now see that Shell's terminal could also destroy the equivalent of 26% of the entire Gulf's recreational red snapper catch!!! Check out the review here.

We're so sure that Shell will abandon their flawed project once they hear this news we immediately booked a flight to the Hague to attend their annual international shareholder meeting. Seriously though, we're going, and taking RodNReel.com's Mike Lane along as well. We'll see if the Hague cares more about Gulf fish than Houston has.

For our fish and our future,

Aaron


Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

Bisecting Our Wetlands

This past week, I have been reviewing and drafting comments on a permit request that Creole Trail LNG and Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline has submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources in order to build the largest capacity liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in North America. Now in past blogs I know you have heard many arguments against LNG terminals. Since this facility would be on the land (3 miles from the Gulf, on Lake Calcasieu, LA), it would have to use the closed-loop technology that we have been pushing for off-shore facilities (see our website for more on off-shore LNG issues). The problems arise when you ask the question: "what do you do with the natural gas once it is off-loaded at the terminal?" According to the permit application, the answer is: "Build a 116 mile pipeline, destroying 233.25 acres of wetlands."

Is this the price we pay for living in the "Energy Coast?" Currently Louisiana is trying to secure what will be billions of dollars to repair the damage that Katrina and Rita caused to the entire Louisiana coast. What kind of message would Louisiana and the Corps be sending if they approve this permit? Keep in mind how I mentioned in my last entry that the Corps approves 97% of the permits requested. We learned the hard way what coastal wetland costs us. Money, habitat loss, human suffering...

This pipeline is not only proposed to cut through hundreds of acres of wetlands, but also at least a dozen water bodies. Two of these rivers (Barnes Creek and Calcasieu River) slated to be bisected are identified as Natural and Scenic Rivers by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Additionally, the Calcasieu River is also classified by the LDEQ as an Outstanding Natural Resource Water. According to Louisiana's Water Quality Standards, "no degradation shall be allowed in high-quality waters that constitute outstanding natural resources, such as waters in the Louisiana Natural and Scenic Rivers System or waters of ecological significance." As a part of the permitting process, LDEQ does a Water Quality Certification, which should take into account any detrimental effects the project might have on water quality, so we are urging LDEQ to reject this permit on the above basis. But, LDEQ has permitted egregious wetland projects in the past.

So, based on the information available to me, this LNG terminal and pipeline is not a good idea for any reason that I can see...now multiply these effects by 12. There are 12 LNG facilities operating, approved, or proposed throughout coastal Louisiana and the Gulf. Simply put, we need to make sure that our government--from the Corps, to state agencies, to local councils--is consistent in its message of coastal restoration and hurricane protection. Louisiana and the rest of the United States needs our wetlands on the coast to be healthy, growing, and protected. We can't be spending millions of dollars to restore our storm surge-absorbing wetlands, only to permit them to be destroyed by energy companies and developers.

Matt Rota is the GRN's Assistant Director of the Water Resources Program

LNG Legal Wrangling of the David v. Goliath type
So this week was the legal showdown over Shell's fish-killing machine. The Gumbo Alliance was represented by our friends the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. On the other side of the court room was the U.S. Department of Justice, Baker-Botts (yes, former Secretary of State James Baker's firm), and Bracewell & Giuliani (represents all aspects of the energy industry - from grids to coal-fired power plants). I must say - we did alright.

The three-judge panel seemed pretty up-to-speed on the fish impacts of these open-loop terminals - with one quipping "we may have cheaper natural gas, but we may not have anything to cook!" The decison as to whether the Maritime Administration violated NEPA by not fully considering cumulative impacts or violated the Deepwater Ports Act by not requiring the "best available technology for the marine environment" will take quite a while to come down - anywhere from two months to two years! We're eager, but we won't hold our breath. We gleaned decent media coverage: the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the Baton Rouge Advocate. Here's our release.
We can't sit on our hands and wait, we've got a ton to do: ConocoPhillips' Beacon Port terminal will be the subject of public hearings on their draft environmental impact statement - three meetings, two weeks from now. Here's the Federal Register notice:

SUMMARY: The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) announce the availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for this license application. The application describes a project that would be located in the Gulf of Mexico, in lease block High Island Area 27, on the outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The Main Terminal would be located approximately 45 miles South of High Island and 50 miles East-Southeast of Galveston, Texas, with a riser platform in lease block West Cameron 167, approximately 27 miles South of Holly Beach and 29 miles South-Southeast of Johnson’s Bayou, Louisiana. The Coast Guard and MARAD request public comments on the DEIS.

DATES: The public meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana will be held on March 21, 2006; the public meeting in Galveston, Texas will be held on March 22, 2006; and the public meeting in Corpus Christi, Texas will be held on March 23, 2006. Each public meeting will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and will be preceded by an open house from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public meeting may end later than the stated time, depending on the number of persons wishing to speak. Material submitted in response to the request for comments must reach the Docket Management Facility on or before April 17, 2006.

ADDRESSES: The public meeting and informational open house will be held at:

Holiday Inn Central, 2032 NE. Evangeline Thruway, Lafayette, LA 70501; telephone 337–233–6815;

Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort, 5600 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77551, telephone 409–763–6564; and

Omni Bayfront Tower, 900 North Shoreline Boulevard, Corpus Christi, TX 78401; telephone 361–887–1600.

So we've got to get as many concerned sportsmen, conservationists, fish-kissers, tree-huggers and others who care about the Gulf as possible, out en masse to these three meetings. The more folks we engage, the more likely we are to earn some media, and communicate to the Governors of the affected states that we need an open-loop veto to secure our fisheries. Two things seemed clear from the Judges questions:

1. They really wanted the DOJ lawyer to conceed that future LNG terminals would have a damned hard time getting a permit for open-loop technology, given the cumulative impacts - he wouldn't.
   
2. They were highly aware of the Governors' ability to veto these terminals - and seemed to be feeling around to see whether that should play into the MARAD secretary's decision to permit the terminal - it shouldn't.
   

We're really going to need to lean on the Govs to get them to pull the veto trigger. No one likes to piss off huge energy corporations in the Gulf of Mexico - esp. politicians who count on those same corporations for their campaign contributions. BUT, they also don't like to piss off an engaged citizenry - that's where we come in. We need to be engaged, and engage others. So tell your friends, make your plans and get your rear-end to Lafayette, LA on Tuesday 3/21, Galveston on Wednesday 3/22, or Corpus Christi on Thursday 3/23. We need your voices! Watch our website for further plans - we'll be putting together press conferences prior to the Galveston and Lafayette meetings - if you're in Corpus and can help out - please contact us.

For the fish, for the future,

Aaron

Aaron Viles is the GRN's Campaign Director

LNG: Hot Week for the Cold Rush

The U.S. Coast Guard just published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement(DEIS for the alphabet soup crowd) for the proposed Conoco Phillips Beacon Port terminal. This is ConocoPhillips second proposed terminal - Beacon Port would be located off the LA-TX coast, giving the energy giant a northern Gulf book-end to their Compass Port terminal just off Dauphin Island, AL.

Here’s a direct link to the PDF – Be forwarned, it’s really huge

http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf95/388368_web.pdf

Comments need to be submitted by April 17^th. No word yet on public hearings, dates or locations. For the scoping/open house, they selected Corpus Christi, Galveston and Lafayette – so may be those location again.

Below is some info I quickly pulled from the Executive Summary –more detail and sample comments will follow later.

A couple of quick, related comments and scuttlebutt – looks like the FEIS for Conoco’s other terminal, Compass Port off Dauphin Is, AL will NOT select the closed-loop, Submerged Combustion Vaporizer as the environmentally preferred alternative – looks like Conoco’s hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing about the unfairness of it all found a receptive audience somewhere in the Coast Guard. Check out Matt Brown’s article in the New Orleans Times-Picayune that lays out the issue well.

Also to note some solid reporting, Ben Raines and Bill Finch in the Mobile Register did an amazing job poking holes in all the arguments against closed-loop systems in the Gulf. Check it out here.

Last Friday, I had an opportunity to actually follow up on Excelerate’s grand claim that they could operate profitably in the Gulf with a closed-loop system. Here's what Excelerate said:

Bryngelson said that the colder water in the north Atlantic was somewhat of a factor in the decision to use the closed loop. Because the seawater being sucked through an open-loop LNG terminal is cooled by about 13 degrees before it is discharged from the terminal, it's possible for ice to form inside the machinery if winter sea temperatures dip below about 40 degrees. Temperatures that low can occur for brief periods in New England waters.

But, he said, the water temperatures were not an insurmountable obstacle -- the company can add relatively small quantities of artificial heat to the process -- and his company can operate open-loop systems in places even colder than Boston.

He also emphasized that either system would have been economical for his company in the Gulf. Going to a closed-loop system, he said, would result in increased operational costs that would be less than 2 percent of the value of the LNG product.

At an LNG law conference held in Texas, I asked Rob Bryngelson to back up his claims, and offer those concerned about fisheries impacts the certainty that a closed-loop technology would offer. He declined to do so.

Speaking of declining opportunities to safeguard Gulf fisheries – it looks like Freeport McMoRan is really turning up the heat on Governor Blanco, to get her to back off on her not-quite-a-promise to veto any future open-loop terminals. This could be a significant challenge, so program the Gov’s number into your speed dial, we may need to remind her of her soft-pledge with some significant constituent response soon.

Oh, and if you STILL haven’t taken action to urge Shell to drop their flawed Gulf Landing project and select a closed-loop technology, take one second and do it here. We’re up to nearly 2,000 faxes into Shell so far but we would really like to get past 3,000 – so take action and send it on to your friends.

Continuing on the Shell front, our student attorneys from Tulane will be arguing our case appealing Shell’s permit in front of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans Wednesday, the 8^th. Keep your fingers crossed that “best technology for the marine environment” means the same thing to federal judges that it does to us. I'll post an update on how that goes.

And without further ado, here’s some info from the ConocoPhillips Draft EIS:

Beacon Port DWP to be located outside State waters in the GOM on the U.S OCS. As depicted in Figure 2.0-1 of this Draft EIS, the DWP, called Beacon Port, would consist of a Proposed Terminal, Riser Platform, and connecting pipelines. The Proposed Terminal would be located approximately 45 mi (72 kilometers [km]) south of High Island and 50 mi (80 km) east-southeast of Galveston, Texas. The Riser Platform would be located approximately 27 mi (43 km) south of Holly Beach and 29 mi (47 km) south-southeast of Johnson’s Bayou, Louisiana (LA).

They look at four potential alignments of vaporizer technology:

− The Beacon Port LLC’s proposal for Open Rack Vaporization (ORV) technology,

− Submerged Combustion Vaporization (SCV),

− SCV with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCV-SCR), and

− Shell and Tube Vaporization (STV).

Impacts:

The annual equivalent yield loss due to impingement and entrainment losses from water intakes associated with the Proposed Beacon Port DWP were compared with annual fish landings in Louisiana and Texas. The equivalent yield loss for red drum as a percentage of Louisiana and Texas landings using the base case model inputs (survival rates and density) is 0.5 percent, indicating a minor to moderate, long-term, and adverse impact to that species in the northwestern GOM. The equivalent yield losses for red snapper, menhaden, anchovies, and shrimp using the base case model inputs range from <0.001>

Mitigation:

During operations of the Proposed Beacon Port DWP, the ORV water intake will be located just above, but not on, the sea bottom, to minimize entrainment and impingement relative to what would occur if it were placed at other depths to mitigate the adverse, long-term impact on fish species.

MARAD has determined as a matter of policy that all future deepwater port facilities licensed in the GOM would be required to have prevention, monitoring, and mitigation plans consistent with the provisions included in the Record of Decision (ROD) for Gulf Landing LLC. In consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other cooperating agencies as appropriate, Beacon Port LLC, at their own cost, will develop and implement plans to assess, minimize, and mitigate impacts to marine fisheries species (including ichthyoplankton) associated with the operation of the ORV.

Moreover, Beacon Port LLC will develop, in coordination with the USCG and NOAA, and implement a monitoring plan to assess impacts of the DWP on fish eggs and larvae in and around the DWP. This monitoring plan will include monitoring for sodium hypochlorite.

Monitoring and mitigation will also require the licensee to provide every three years of operation to the Maritime Administrator, NMFS, and other cooperating agencies, a detailed report of the impact of ORV on marine fisheries species (including ichthyoplankton), relative to the baseline information gathered prior to installation of the GBS. If at that time, the impacts of the DWP on species of concern exceed the base-case impacts as stated in the EIS, Beacon Port LLC shall develop and implement a plan, (approved by MARAD) to mitigate these additional impacts. Depending upon the impacts, mitigation measures could include changes to the operation of the facility, aquaculture projects, wetland restoration or other habitat projects, additional artificial reefs projects, modification of the warming water inlet exclusion devises, research, and education programs.

An Early Saturday Morning, Around the Time to Go Out and Catch Some Red Drum

LNG Campaign Hits High-Gear: Shell Phone Calls, Sportsmen Radio, Amazing Media

As I rode my bike to work last Saturday, at 5:30 in the morning, all I could think about was what I was going to say. There are just so many arguments to use against the fish-killing open-loop LNG system that Shell has proposed. I just had to choose the right one, for this morning, I would be delivering it straight to the man himself. Greg Koehler, the President of Shell’s Gulf Landing Terminal, was coming on a sports radio show to stick up for his company’s flawed proposal. Luckily, Pat, the Gulf Restoration Network organizer in Houston, had already worked with Capt. Wayne, and we’d gotten the head’s up. This meant that a large group of fishermen, Pat, and I were all ready to call in and prove him wrong!

Greg was calling into the radio show in response to the increasing pressure Shell is experiencing to abandon their fish-killing machines in favor of environmentally-friendly alternatives. On January 31, the Gulf Restoration Network released the Mr. Bill video clip that exposes the dangers of Shell’s open-loop design. Walter Williams, the creator of Mr. Bill was there to unveil his new work. Great speakers like Aaron Viles of the Gulf Restoration Network, Charlie Smith from the Louisiana Charter Boat Association, and Adam Babich from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic all offered their unique perspectives on this needless threat to our Gulf.

The next day, the Mr. Bill video was launched and broad call-in day efforts swung into action. The video clip was distributed to over 21,000 people on our email network! Along with enjoying Mr. Bill’s classic “Ohhh NOoooo!”, recipients were asked to place a phone call to Shell. There were also on-the-ground efforts at college campuses throughout the Gulf. Students at places like Rice and LSU set up tables to tell people about the proposed fish-killing machines and give them an immediate opportunity to make a difference with a phone call!

The call-in day was incredibly successful! Within hours, Greg Koehler himself had left a long personal message on the answering machine. He tried to downplay the environmental impact and test callers patience by making them listen for over two minutes. No one was deterred and Shell was overwhelmed by the calls!!

So, Greg and the public relations folks at Shell decided they needed to do something, and I was riding my bike to catch the 6AM radio show on the internet and rebut his misleading claims.

With all the outreach that the Gulf Restoration Network has been doing in the fishing community, Greg chose a Houston-based fishing show as the platform for his message. Little did he know, the hosts of the show, and the rest of the greater Houston fishing community, were already steadfast in their opposition to the fish-killing open-loop.

I arrived at the office, put on some coffee and found the radio station online. Ahhh! Technical difficulties . . . I couldn’t hear the show. As I’m scrambling to figure out how to access the online airwaves, Pat calls.

“Dan, are you going to call in?! This guy is really sticking to the message, saying open-loop won’t harm the environment, but he did say he’s interested in learning more about the Mustang Technology!!” he told me. Mustang Technology is one of the great fish-friendly alternatives.

I needed to be hearing what was being said so I could craft my call. Time was running out on the show! Download a plug-in, more technical jargon, restart the computer. Pat’s on the phone trying to give me a sense of what’s being said. Greg keeps misleading the public about Shell’s fish-killing machines, using smoke and mirrors to distort the scary truth.

Pat had already called in to the show. He argued with Greg a bit and warned him of the boat parade that would be happening outside his office. On Tuesday, February 7, the Gulf Restoration Network, the Texas Kayak Fishermen, and the Recreational Fishing Alliance, along with other recreational fishermen and charter boat captains staged a massive boat parade through downtown Houston to Shell’s headquarters. The 5 large fishing boats and 9 kayaks made quite a scene along with over 30 fishermen wielding signs and chanting to stop the open-loop! It was awesome! On that Saturday morning, it had yet to happen, and Pat thought it only fair (and good strategy) to give warning to the company.

The coffee was brewed and I was enjoying my first sips when finally, I got the radio show to come streaming in! The first thing I heard was a fisherman on the air talking about how much this terminal was going to affect the redfish population. He liked catching redfish and Shell was trying to make it harder, the man explained. Greg tried to assuage his fears, but the fisherman wasn’t satisfied.

Since I was calling from New Orleans, I had decided I would bring in the big picture (my brain had started working better with the coffee). After speaking with the station for a moment, they put me on the air, where Greg could hear my comments, “Shell has continuously claimed to be a leader in the industry on the environment. Why then are you insisting upon setting a precedent for using such harmful technology in the Gulf? There are seven proposed open-loop terminals in the Gulf, the cumulative impact of all these fish-killing machines will be incredibly detrimental!”

He ignored my question about precedent and tried to explain how open-loop was best for the Gulf because so many fisheries agencies had taken part in the process that approved the terminal. I was quick to point out that, in fact, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Council, and all the other major fisheries management bodies had participated in the process to oppose the technology, and that the Mobile Register had absolutely refuted the arguement that open-loop was the only viable technology for the Gulf.

Greg again changed the subject and began talking about a presentation he recently made to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Council. Unfortunately, I had no time to respond before we cut to commercial, because what he had failed to mention was that the GSMFC had not accepted the industry-paid-for science Shell presented to them at that meeting!

There is no way that Greg could answer the tough questions that fishermen and organizers posed for him that Saturday because there is absolutely no reason to insist on using fish-killing technology in the Gulf! With all that’s already happened here over the last 5 months, especially to the fishing community, Shell needs to get it together and stop their silly games! Close the loop now to protect our fisheries and the health of our Gulf!!

Shell is responding to the pressure! Citizens of the Gulf must continue to ramp it up to make them realize it will damage the Shell reputation and name forever if the corporation continues to push for the death of our fish! Everyone who cares about catching fish, eating fish, the ecosystem of the Gulf, or the health of the environment anywhere must get involved with these efforts!

To learn more about the LNG issue and campaign, visit the LNG section of the website at www.healthygulf.org/LNG.htm. Make sure to fill out the e-action, and it will send an email directly to Greg Koehler himself, along with a number of other key decision-makers and executives at Shell!

Dan Favre is a Green Corps organizer, working with GRN on the LNG campaign