NorthernStar Natural Gas suspends development of its Bradwood Landing LNG import terminal

NorthernStar Natural Gas has announced suspension of its development of the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas terminal 25 miles east of Astoria on the Columbia River.

In a press release on Tuesday, NorthernStar Natural Gas President Paul Soanes, stated that “The extended delays in the processing of state and federal permits for Bradwood Landing and the difficult investment environment have forced us to suspend development.”

The proposal has generated controversy in Clatsop County, Oregon, the project's planned location, and in Wahkiakum County, Washington, where a major population center: Puget Island, lies just across the Columbia from the proposed site. In both counties, elections for commissioners seats have hung on positions for or against the project.

In 2008, Clatsop County approved Bradwood Landing’s consolidated land use application. In response, opponents took their objections to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals. LUBA remanded two areas of concern, the project's scale, and its plan for the protection of endangered salmon, back to Clatsop County. Last July, the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve revised land use findings. Opponents again appealed the decisions to LUBA.

In 2009, The National Marine Fisheries Service, represented by the U.S. Department of Justice joined Oregon, Washington, Columbia Riverkeeper, the Nez Perce tribe and other environmental groups in appealing the approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the project. The suit is still pending in the ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

This year, LUBA again remanded the two issues back to Clatsop County. Soon thereafter, Bradwood Landing/Northern Star LLC filed an appeal with the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Two remaining LNG terminal projects remain on the drawing board in Oregon, one in Coos Bay, and one on the Skipanon Peninsula in Warrenton.