Action Alert!
Oregon LNG proposes to construct their destructive mega-port on state-owned land. Land owned by you and me. Tell the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) you don't want an LNG terminal on state land!
In 2004, DSL granted a 5-year lease for the LNG terminal. That lease is now expired. DSL will soon make a decision on whether to renew or reject a 60-year lease for the site of the Oregon LNG terminal. Urge DSL to reject the lease today. At the very least, DSL should make Oregon LNG reapply and conduct a fair and transparent public process.
Contact these decision makers today!
The Oregon State Land Board - The Land Board oversees the Department of State Lands and makes decisions on important leases. The Land Board is made up of these three elected officials:
Governor Kulongoski
(503) 378-4582, click to email: http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/contact_us.shtml
Secretary of State Kate Brown
(503) 986-1523 oregon.sos@state.or.us
Treasurer Ted Wheeler
(503) 378-4329 Oregon.Treasurer@state.or.us
While the State Land Board did not make the original lease decision, they have the power and the responsibility to intervene on this lease. Please also contact these important decision makers:
Michael Carrier, Natural Resources Policy Director
(503) 986-6525 Michael.carrier@state.or.us
Louise Solliday, Department of State Lands Director (DSL can deny the lease)
(503) 986-5224 louise.c.solliday@state.or.us
Tell them:
1) Require Oregon LNG to reapply for the lease
-In 2004, DSL entered into a lease that generates no public benefit. At $38,000 per year, the current lease is a raw deal for Oregonians. Now DSL gets a chance to correct its mistake.
-The circumstances of the original lease agreement are surrounded by controversy. DSL did not tell the public that the lease was intended for an LNG terminal - DSL's notice and appraisal was for a golf course, not an LNG facility. The public deserves to be heard this time around with public hearings and true transparency.
- Demand transparency. DSL should require Oregon LNG to reapply for the lease so Oregon's citizens can comment on the appropriate use of our public land.
2) The lease of the Skipanon Peninsula is grossly undervalued and is losing money for the state and our Common School Fund!
-The property was appraised as a golf course, not a deepwater industrial port. Oregon LNG pays only $38,000 per year for its LNG terminal lease - a figure that is $1 million/year too low! Since 2004, the State of Oregon has effectively subsidized the Oregon LNG project by depriving our common school fund of $1 million/year (already a total of $5 million).
-The State of Oregon should manage our public resources for the public benefit - not subsidize out-of-state energy speculators at a huge cost to Oregon taxpayers.
3) You oppose LNG development and the way the Oregon LNG Company does business!
- Oregon LNG is currently under investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for misconduct and abuse of landowners.
-In October 2009, the Oregon Department of Justice found "Official Misconduct" related to the original lease between the Port and Oregon LNG.
-According to the Oregon Dept. of Energy, LNG is not needed in Oregon and yet the citizens and tax-payers of Oregon are bearing the burden of that development with their tax dollars, private property and inability to develop their own lands during the permitting process
-Oregon LNG poses a public safety and public health threat due to its proximity to Warrenton and Astoria, Oregon.
Oregon should stand up to Oregon LNG. The State of Oregon owns the Skipanon Peninsula and leased the land to the Port of Astoria, which in turn subleased the state land to Oregon LNG. Last week, the Port of Astoria was forced to renew its sublease for the Oregon LNG terminal. But DSL can reject the master lease and kill the whole project. The court's order to the Port does not affect DSL. DSL still has the final say over this lease.
Sample Email:
To Director Solliday and Dept. of State Lands,
I am writing to ask that the State of Oregon terminate not renew the lease of the Skipanon Peninsula to Oregon LNG. The LNG terminal is not in the public interest. DSL should reject the lease immediately.
At the very least, DSL should require Oregon LNG to reapply for the lease. DSL issued the original lease without adequate notice or public participation. DSL should not be pressured into a 60-year lease without a thorough evaluation of whether the project is in the public interest.
In addition, while I am personally opposed to this unnecessary, economically and environmentally damaging proposal, I am also deeply frustrated that the State of Oregon is effectively subsidizing this lease by agreeing to terms that come nowhere near the true value of the Skipanon Peninsula for this development. The undervalued lease pales in comparison to the potential value of the site for the local economy and Oregon's taxpayers. With each year that the lease continues, Oregon's Common School Fund is deprived of an additional 1 million dollars. The time has come for the State of Oregon to correct the obvious mistake it made by entering into a lease for the Oregon LNG project.
I ask that you please terminate the Port of Astoria's lease for Oregon LNG, and at the very least, require Oregon LNG to reapply for the lease so there is an open and public process this time.
Thank you,
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
