Governor Proclaims He Has Not Taken Stance on Cabrillo Port

Photo Credit, MSN/Frank Lamonea
STATEMENT—Gov. Schwarzenegger declined to address the Cabrillo Port LNG proposal on his recent visit to Malibu, but is now on record as taking no stand on the project.

• Worldwide Publicity on Malibu Opposition May Have Been a Factor in Statement’s Timing

BY HANS LAETZ

Five days after a large anti-LNG terminal rally in Malibu, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued a statement stressing he has not taken any stand on the proposed Cabrillo Port planned for 13.8 miles off the Malibu coast.

The governor’s public stance takes a step back from earlier remarks, when the governor embraced liquefied natural gas terminals in general and the BHP Billiton project planned for Malibu waters in particular.

“I have not taken a position on the BHP project at Oxnard, or any LNG project,” the governor said in a written statement released last Thursday. “As governor, it would be inappropriate for me to take a position on any specific project before the review process is complete.

“The BHP project still has many hurdles to go before it could ever reach my desk. Let me also be clear that any proposal that comes before me would have to meet strict standards of both public and environmental safety before I would approve it.”

Anti-LNG activists in Malibu said the governor’s statement was welcomed. “I am pleased that the governor is now stating for the record that he has not taken a stand on any specific LNG facility,” said City Councilmember Andy Stern. “I do hope he keeps an open mind and will study any proposal himself in depth, prior to making any decision on one.”

Schwarzenegger’s recent statement of last week is the third time the governor has offered his views on offshore liquefied natural gas terminals. On July 1, while standing in an electric grid control room during a heatwave, the governor said he supports importing additional LNG into the state.

According to a transcript provided by the governor’s office, the governor was asked if bringing a large LNG plant to California was a good idea. “I think we have to look at all of those things,” he answered. “I think I’m a big believer in liquid natural gas.

“I think we have to find a good, safe area where we can build it and where it also is acceptable to the people. And I think it’s very important to know that those plants are very safe, and we have them all over the world. And where I have checked it personally, where they have them, there is no accident ever been reported.”

And last year, the governor told a reporter that the plant near Malibu makes more sense than a similar LNG terminal proposed for Long Beach harbor, within five miles of the homes of 400,000 people.

Schwarzenegger holds a double-digit lead over challenger Phil Angelides, who has appeared in Malibu to promise to veto the BHP Billiton proposal if elected.

The Cabrillo Port project is one of five LNG plants proposed for the California coastline, and its application was the first to be filed.

Since then, the project’s overall permit has been tied up as the Australian company answers 120 “data gap” questions from federal regulators and some 1,400 pollution, safety and operational questions filed by coastal residents.

Federal regulators evaluating the water discharge permit application say about 100 comments were filed by last week’s deadline. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency received more than 12,000 comments on Cabrillo Port’s proposed air discharge permit as well, most of them critical.

Comments were filed last week by the California Coastal Commission, Fish and Game Department and Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, all of whom said the amount of hot water that Cabrillo Port would release into the Pacific might be harmful.

Although BHPB has redesigned that ship’s cooling system to dramatically decrease the amount of hot water discharges, the state agencies worry that plankton, fish eggs and other small marine creatures would be killed by water used to cool the ship’s generator.