For Immediate Release:

Contact: David Lohman, Southern Oregon Pipeline Information Project, (541) 772-1977

Dan Serres, Southern Oregon Pipeline Information Project, (503) 890-2441

(Click on arrow below to download LUBA's decision) 

North Bend, OR – Opponents of PG&E’s Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline and the related Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility welcomed news that Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) rejected CoosCounty's approval of the project yesterday. 

Project opponents argued in an appeal to LUBA that the County's approval in late 2007 violated Oregon's land use laws. On Tuesday, LUBA agreed with some of the opponents "Assignments of Error" and remanded the matter to the County for further work.

 "This LUBA decision is a big win for the people of CoosCounty and Oregon," said Jody McCaffree, leader of Citizens Against LNG in CoosBay, who supported the appeal.  "People came to the hearings and testified ten to one against this project   The Coos County Commissioners should have listened to their constituents' legitimate concerns.  Instead, the Commissioners deferred to Jordan Cove Energy Partners on issue after issue.  LUBA's decision requires the County to reconsider some of its key decisions and to fully engage the public in doing so."

David Lohman, a Medford attorney representing appellant Southern Oregon Pipeline Information Project, said LUBA's decision was based on more than just narrow legal technicalities:  "Correcting the problems with this permit – if Coos County decides to try to do so – will require a lot of new work by Jordan Cove and the County, including public involvement processes that were skipped over before.  And we now know of additional problems to bring to LUBA's attention the next time around."

 James Nicita, the Oregon City-based attorney who successfully argued the case against the environmentally damaging project, looked ahead to the State's role in the project.  "This is the first major permit that Jordan Cove has sought from state or local agencies, and LUBA's decision is a huge signal to them that their project has major problems." 

The decision may stall the plans of the California-driven pipeline project, which would connect the LNG terminal in CoosBay to PG&E’s California market. 

Dan Serres, with FLOW, an environmental group supporting community opposition to the project, said,  "This is a big victory for the community activists in Coos County and throughout Southern Oregon who are concerned about the questionable economic impacts of a project that would put homes and schools at risk while using eminent domain to cut a 230-mile clearcut across private property and impacting five major rivers—just to send more polluting natural gas to PG&E and a state that has repeatedly rejected this type of project."

The case was argued on behalf of Citizens Against LNG by:

More information:

www.citizensagainstlng.com

nocaliforniapipeline.com