Cove Point natural gas export facility gets state OK
Dominion ordered to pay $48 million toward clean energy, bill assistance
May 30, 2014|By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun articles.baltimoresun.com
...The Maryland Public Service Commission authorized Dominion, an energy company based in Richmond, Va., to build a 130-megawatt generating station at its existing Lusby import terminal. The plant would provide the power needed to compress natural gas into a superchilled liquid for loading onto tankers docked in the Chesapeake Bay.
But the state regulatory body imposed 179 conditions on its approval, covering items that include air and water quality, traffic, noise and forest conservation at the site.
The commission also declared that the export terminal would not provide net benefits to state residents, so it required Dominion to contribute to programs that would "advance and protect" the environmental and economic interests of Marylanders.
It ordered the company to donate $40 million over five years to state efforts to develop renewable energy, reduce climate-altering pollution and promote energy efficiency. The company also is required to give $8 million over 20 years to a state fund that provides low-income energy assistance...
...Tidwell said opponents plan to urge Gov. Martin O'Malley to order a detailed risk assessment, as his Republican predecessor did for a smaller expansion of the terminal eight years ago...
===
A State ordered risk assessment would only be a delaying tactic,
From the 2006 risk assessment pbadupws.nrc.gov
...In summary, the study concludes that the quantified risks to populations and
facilities, including Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, fall within a range
considered acceptable relative to available industry criteria, including the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulatory standards. The report further notes
that although the incremental risks associated with the expanded facility relative
to the existing licensed facility are minimal, all measures that might further
reduce those risks to as low as reasonably achievable should be considered by the
regulatory agency, and where appropriate incorporated into the license...
A new assessment would come to a similar conclusion, IMO. |
