Ventura County residents, opposed to the liquefied natural gas facility proposed for the Malibu/Ventura coastline, criticize the federal agency for weak oversight of an air quality draft permit. Only two Malibu residents spoke at the meeting.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The federal Environmental Protection Agency received a less-than-enthusiastic welcome from Ventura County residents when it held a hearing Monday night in Oxnard regarding an air quality permit for BHP Billiton’s proposal to build a liquefied natural gas facility less than 14 miles off the coast of Malibu.
Nearly 80 people spoke at the hearing, most of them in opposition to BHP Billiton receiving the permit. And many voiced their distaste in general for the plan to build the LNG plant known as Cabrillo Port. Several speakers accused the EPA of presenting a weak draft permit that will lead to excessive pollution in the Ventura/Malibu area, with several people referring to the agency as the “Environmental Pollution Agency.”
Although many Malibu residents have been vocal about their opposition to the project, there were only two speakers at the meeting who identified themselves as Malibu residents.
Phil Bailey, head of the Malibu Association of Realtors, said, “This terminal, due to westerly winds, will affect Malibu considerably more than Oxnard. Eighty percent of the time we get westerly winds that blow right down the coast. Malibu will bear the brunt of the damage.”
The air quality permit application is separate from the general application by BHP Billiton to build the LNG facility. The EPA is in charge of approving the air quality permit as well as one regarding water discharge. The State Lands Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard oversee the general approval of the facility, with the California Coastal Commission, the Maritime Administration and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger having a say in the matter.
One of the controversial issues involved with the air quality permit is that the facility will be subject to air quality standards as if it were on an island rather than on the mainland, a decision made by the federal government earlier this year. Karen Kraus, an attorney from the Environmental Defense Center, called this a “fundamentally flawed premise.”
“Cabrillo Port would be located 14 miles from the Ventura County onshore nonattainment area [an area where pollutants are restricted], but 18 miles and 24 miles, respectively, from Anacapa and San Nicolas Islands,” she said. “Thus, the more stringent rules that apply to new sources of air pollution in Ventura County’s onshore nonattainment area must apply to Cabrillo Port.”
Kathi Hann, environmental advisor for Cabrillo Port, said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that since Cabrillo Port would be offshore, it made sense that it would be classified as not on the mainland. She added that BHP Billiton would be doing things to reduce the amount of air pollution, including limited use of diesel fuel, with the tankers and tugboats serving the facility running on fuel that creates less pollution.
“We would do everything we could to make our project as clean and environmentally sound as possible,” Hann said. “As far as we know, we are the only [offshore] project in the U.S. that is making that commitment.”
According to the EPA, Cabrillo Port would annually emit nearly 279 tons of various air pollutants, including 66.05 tons of nitrogen oxide. Although many people at the meeting thought that was too much pollution, others said the actual numbers were higher. Some environmentalists said the EPA’s conclusions were based on flawed assumptions.
Written comments on the air quality permit can be sent to the EPA until July 3. Comments on the water discharge permit can be issued until July 3. More information on the permits can be obtained at the Web site www.epa.gov/region09/liq-natl-gas/index.html.
The EPA will not make a decision on those permits until the project as a whole has been considered by the necessary state and federal entities.
The State Lands Commission will conduct hearings on the draft environmental impact report for the project later in the summer.