Cabrillo Port Opponents Rally the Ranks at Malibu Pier Event

• Critics of Floating LNG Terminal Planned Off Malibu Coast Are Buoyed by Report Findings

BY SONJA MAGDEVSKI

Members of the Malibu and Oxnard communities showed up in force Saturday at the Malibu Pier for the “No BHP LNG” press conference and community rally organized by the California Coastal Protection Network. The event shined a spotlight on the three upcoming meetings that will determine the fate of BHP Billiton’s proposed liquefied natural gas terminal 13.8 miles off the coast between Malibu and Port Hueneme.

The event was moderated by Keely Shaye Brosnan, a vocal community activist and strong opponent of BHPB’s LNG terminal. She was joined by her actor husband, Pierce Brosnan, and their two children as she spoke about the detrimental environmental impacts of the Cabrillo Port project.

In addition to star power, the rally included three key California assembly members who vigorously oppose the LNG project—Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), Julia Brownley (D-Malibu) and Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara).

Levine had earlier lent his name to advertisements taken out by Billiton, but said Saturday that endorsement was based on a false assurance from the Australian company that their project would meet all federal and state pollution laws. Levine said he now realizes that BHPB and the federal government are “playing dirty politics to thwart California’s commitment to a clean environment, and trying to inflict this project on us, bypassing our clean-and-green state and federal environmental laws.”

Prominent longtime Malibuite and actor-activist Martin Sheen, and members of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and Association of Realtors, also took part in the rally, held under warm, sunny skies at the city’s landmark pier.

Sheen told The News after the rally, “After reviewing the points of the final Environmental Impact Report, I am absolutely convinced that this project must be stopped and stopped now.” He added, “We have to stand up and protect the environment.”

The proposed $800 million terminal would be the first of its kind, with Australia’s BHP Billiton aiming to become one of the main suppliers of Australian and Asian natural gas to California.

The terminal—three football fields in length, 13-stories tall, and designed to float in 2900 feet of water—would unload transoceanic tankers carrying natural gas that has been chilled to minus 260 degrees and liquefied. This liquid would then be cooked on board the giant terminal to transform it back into gas, which would then be sent through underwater pipes. Although the design capacity is 800 million cubic feet of natural gas daily, the company says it could double that output if the state requires the gas.

BHP Billiton claims its project is good for California and that natural gas is the least polluting fossil fuel. But the final 3000-page Environmental Impact Report released March 9 (see story on page 3) concludes that the LNG project does in fact create substantial environmental risks for the California coast in a number of areas, including air pollution and marine life. The report found that the terminal and its associated tankers would emit more than 480 tons of ozone-forming emissions, smoke and soot in local skies.

“The problem with LNG when you condense it, store it, transport it across the globe, and regasify it, is that it takes a tremendous amount of energy, all of which results in significantly increased greenhouse gas emissions—so this is not the silver bullet the industry is promoting it as,” said Susan Jordan, CCPN executive director. Dependence on LNG, Jordan said, would only stall progress for the clean renewable-energy future that California is trying to achieve.

The federal government supports the BHPB LNG proposal, which is regulated primarily under the Federal Deepwater Port Act, which gives California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger final veto power. It has been reported that BHP Billiton spent $1.8 million last year lobbying in California. Schwarzenegger has indicated support, but taken no official position on the terminal.

Key hearings and votes in April will cap off the series of studies and debates that have been underway for more than three years. Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, and Owen Bailey, conservation organizer for the Sierra Club, strongly urged community members to become involved and attend the upcoming meetings.

“It is not too late for people to become involved, and it is important for people to understand that this project is not clean at all,” Krop said. The pollutants, she said, would blow onshore and only exacerbate the air quality in Ventura and LA counties, which already violate air quality standards. “This is truly the time for people to have an impact, and we can make a difference.”

The U.S. Coast Guard hearing will be from 5-8 p.m. April 4, at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard. The California State Lands Commission hearing will be at the same location at 10 a.m. April 9, and the California Coastal Commission will meet April 12, at 9 a.m. at Fess Parker’s Resort, 633 E. Cabrillo St., in Santa Barbara.

Information on the upcoming meetings can be found at www.cabrilloport.ene.com/meetings.html

Photo credit, MSN/Frank Lamonea
STRONG OPPOSITION—Moderating the rally that was organized to spotlight three upcoming meetings that will determine the fate of the BNP BIlliton LNG terminal was Keely Shaye Brosnan.

Photo credit, MSN/Frank Lamonea
PRESIDENTIAL PROWESS—Longtime Malibu resident and environmental activist Martin Sheen was one of critics of Cabrillo Port who addressed the enthusiastic crowd. Also on hand were three key California Assembly members.

Photo credit, MSN/Frank Lamonea
CONCERNED CITIZENS—The “No BHP LNG” rally on the Malibu Pier had a good turnout last weekend, as the deadline for a decision on Cabrillo Port gets closer.