FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts
Katy Eymann, Citizens Against LNG, Coos Bay, (503) 581-5050
Alex Harris, Hike the Pipe, (541) 324-1343
Oyster Business, Landowners, Climate Activists Call on State Land Board and Department of State Lands to Reject Pipeline for LNG Through Coos Bay
December 8, 2015 (Salem, OR) — On Tuesday, dozens of activists from six Oregon counties joined oyster businesses in objecting to the proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline, which would ship gas to a proposed LNG export terminal in Coos Bay. The pipeline would damage established oyster beds in Coos Bay in order to ship gas to a proposed terminal that would quickly become Oregon’s largest greenhouse gas polluter.
Carrying replica pipelines and oysters, the group gathered during the State Land Board meeting in Salem to call on Governor Kate Brown, Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins, Treasurer Ted Wheeler, and Department of State Lands to deny the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and the proposed Pacific Connector Pipeline through Coos Bay.
Lilli Clausen of Clausen Oysters in Coos Bay said, "The proposed pipeline would have a tremendous negative impact on our oyster beds. I do not understand why the State of Oregon would allow such a potentially destructive pipeline to go through such a sensitive area. The pipeline construction will imperil all the oyster beds in the bay, which have been in Coos Bay for over 100 years. DSL and the Land Board should protect our long time investment in the community and not allow the pipeline to go through the Bay."
Clausen and several others from Coos County shared their concerns with dozens of activists from throughout the State who oppose the Jordan Cove LNG terminal because of its enormous greenhouse gas potential and its impact on hundreds of sensitive streams, rivers, and wetlands.
“Oregon’s Department of State Lands and State Land Board should reject the Pacific Connector Pipeline,” said Alex Harris, who organized a hike along the entire pipeline route during the summer. “This pipeline proposal is as arrogant as it is destructive. It would simultaneously barrel through oyster beds and trample Oregon’s climate goals.”
Added Harris, “By shipping fracked gas overseas, the pipeline would demonstrate the same recklessness for our climate as it does for long-standing oyster businesses in Coos Bay.”
DSL’s rules allow either the agency or the State Land Board to review and deny projects that conflict with existing resources, such as oyster cultivation. The state’s rules also direct officials to manage state lands for the benefit of all Oregonians, and climate activists argue that fracked gas exports conflict with Oregonians’ values and Oregon’s climate goals.
Department of State Lands is one of several state agencies that can deny permits for the Jordan Cove LNG terminal and Pacific Connector Pipeline.
