Coos Bay Reviews LNG Emergency Response
Public Input is Needed!, 03.11.2009 20:46
Coos Bay City Council is asking for input on their signing an agreement with Jordan Cove Energy LNG Project. The agreement concerns Emergency Reponse to LNG Hazards. The agreement needs public review and also independent LNG Hazard Experts, and should also include testimony from seismologists about additional risks of a Cascadian Subduction Zone spawned near shore tsunami occuring while an LNG tanker is in the Port of Coos Bay.
Coos Bay City Council Reviews LNG Emergency Response
Please let the Coos Bay City Council know how you feel about their signing a document with the Jordan Cove Energy LNG Project with regard to LNG Hazards and Emergency Response. Please request of them that this document have independent LNG Hazard Expert review and public scrutiny. I have pasted their contact information below.
THANKS............
ALSO - Currently the World has an on-line Poll about the Port of Coos Bay;
http://www.theworldlink.com/
(Lower right hand side of webpage) Go VOTE!
Q - "Are you happy with how the Port of Coos Bay commissioners are handling their business"
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http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2009/11/02/news/doc4aef190c70ff5415234967.txt
Officials outline emergency plans for LNG terminal
Staff Reports
Monday, November 02, 2009 | No comments posted.
Coos Bay officials haven't endorsed the local liquefied natural gas terminal project, but they have been working with the developer on emergency plans if the facility gets built.
The Coos Bay City Council will discuss Tuesday whether to enter into non-binding agreements with Jordan Cove Energy Project.
The city would need additional training, equipment and emergency response personnel if Jordan Cove decides to build, Acting City Manager Rodger Craddock wrote in a staff report. The agreements would ensure the city is compensated by Jordan Cove, but wouldn't be a show of support for the project, he wrote.
"This action does not require nor imply the City's endorsement of the project; it merely aids the City in recouping any costs or impacts should the project become a reality," he wrote.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 500 Central Ave.
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Coos Bay - Interim City Manager - Police Chief Rodger Craddock -
rcraddock@police.coosbay.org (541) 269-8911
1) Mayor Jeff McKeown:
jamckeown@hotmail.com
(541) - 269-1150 (W) / (541) - 267-7410 (H)
2) Councilor John Eck:
jon.eck1@verizon.net
(541) 269-0308 (H)
3) Councilor Gene Melton:
Oldfossil137@yahoo.com
(541) - 267-0910
4) Councilor Mark Daly: If a citizen would like to contact Mark, please call the City Manager's Office at;
(541)-269-8912.
5) Councilor Stephanie J. Kramer:
stephkramer@charter.net
(541) 888-6058
6) Councilor Joanie Johnson:
jojohnson@coosbay.org
(541) 267-0905
7) Councilor John Pundt:
jpundt@coosbay.org
(541) 267-0905
Some interesting questions to ask Coos Bay City Council members;
1) Are you aware of the Cascadian Subduction Zone (CSZ)?
2) How would an evacuation occur in a timely manner if the CSZ becomes seismically active?
3) Are you aware of the time it would take from the initial CSZ seismic event until a tsunami struck Coos Bay?
4) What would happen if a tanker carrying (supercooled) LNG happened to be in the region following a CSZ seismic event?
some references;
http://www.pnsn.org/HAZARDS/CASCADIA/cascadia_event.html
Here is the answer to question #3, would be interesting to find out how many Coos Bay City Council members get the correct answer (30 minutes or LESS!!);
"The Cascadia subduction zone occurs where the relatively thin Juan de Fuca plate moves eastward and under the westward-moving North American Plate. When that collision results in a rupture, massive earthquakes occur. The other active subduction zone capable of producing a major earthquake-tsunami sequence is in Alaska, the site of a giant earthquake and subsequent tsunami in 1964.
Scientists say a rupture along the Cascadia fault would cause the sea floor to bounce 20 feet or more, setting off powerful ocean waves relatively close to shore. The first waves could hit coastal communities in 30 minutes or less -- too rapidly for the current warning systems to save lives."
found @;
http://www.livescience.com/environment/050103_cascadia_tsunami.html
The risk of the near shore tsunami from a CSZ event is unavoidable, though adding to the dangers by including the random chance of a tanker carrying supercooled and highly explosive LNG being near the Coos Bay harbor certainly doesn't help matters!!
Some NO-LNG activist resources;
http://www.oregonwaters.org/LNG.htm
http://www.pacificgreens.org/cat-campaigns/no-lng
http://www.citizensagainstlng.com/
http://www.nocaliforniapipeline.com
http://www.lngpollutes.org
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Sample Public Comment 03.11.2009 - 21:48 Here's a sample public comment including risks of Cascadian subductrion Zone tsunamis in the LNG Hazards and Emergency Response document. Please feel free to copy, rewrite and/or paste any of the following when writing to Coos Bay Mayor McKeown and City Council members regarding the LNG Hazards document. (BTW - Have included the "30 minutes or less" time frame from CSZ earthquake until near shore tsunami makes landfall in the comments, so playing "stump the city councilor chump" with question #3 may not work so well.) Greetings Mayor McKeown; Am writing out of concern about the upcoming document between Jordan Cove Energy and the City of Coos Bay regarding LNG Hazards and Emergency Response. It is of upmost importance that the public be given ample time to review this document, and additional independent expert review about LNG hazards is needed. Furthermore, including testimony and review from a seismologist concerning the Cascadian Subduction Zone's near shore tsunamis would be needed for a complete emergency response plan. The risks of transporting supercooled natural gas (LNG) are bad enough already under normal conditions, though the Coos Bay region needs to include additional risks coming from a Cascadian Subduction Zone (CSZ) spawned near shore tsunami that could strike the shore without warning. The Cascadian Subduction Zone WILL eventually shift and cause earthquakes, following these underwater earthquakes a series of tsunamis is expected to make landfall. It is estimated by seismologists that following a Cascadian Subduction Zone event a near shore tsunami will strike the coastline within 30 minutes or less. According to Robin Lloyd; "Scientists say a rupture along the Cascadia fault would cause the sea floor to bounce 20 feet or more, setting off powerful ocean waves relatively close to shore. The first waves could hit coastal communities in 30 minutes or less -- too rapidly for the current warning systems to save lives." This time frame does not allow for a tanker carrying LNG to turn around in time to avoid being trapped in the harbor or estuary by the incoming tidal wave(s). The LNG tanker would have no possible way of predicting when the CSZ seismic event would happen, though once it does, there is no time for escaping the incoming tidal waves. The result of the CSZ earthquake's tsunami occuring while a LNG tanker is in the harbor would be additional damages from the explosive eruption of the LNG tanker hull rupturing and the LNG reaching normal temperatures. While the tsunamis from a CSZ seismic event are not avoidable, increasing the death toll and destruction to the Port of Coos Bay by adding highly explosive LNG tankers to the equation IS PREVENTABLE!! Gambling with people's lives by enabling Jordan Cove's LNG facility to occupy Coos Bay is not ethical, regardless of how many jobs it will bring to the region. When making the final decisions about allowing Jordan Cove Energy (whose CEO and officers mostly live in Chicago, far away from the risks of CSZ spawned tsunamis!!), am earnestly wishing that every public official in Coos Bay hears the voice of Clint Eastwood asking; "Do you feel lucky today? Well, do YOU??" The risks of a near shore tsunami with less than 30 minutes warning time from the initial CSZ seismic event MUST be taken into consideration for ANY sort of LNG Hazards and Emergency Response documents to be taken seriously. Thanks for your consideration, Your Name Here Bandon, OR (Any Town, USA) References; "Tsunami-Generating Earthquake Near U.S. Possibly Imminent" By Robin Lloyd, Special to LiveScience 03 January 2005 07:21 pm ET http://www.livescience.com/environment/050103_cascadia_tsunami.html The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network http://www.pnsn.org/HAZARDS/CASCADIA/cascadia_event.html NO LNG!!> |