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NorthernStar Natural Gas | September 16, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. – Today Joe Desmond, senior vice president for external affairs of NorthernStar Natural Gas, issued the following comments on today’s vote on Clatsop County Referendum 4-131 related to conditional use permits for buried infrastructure on public and private lands zoned as open space, parks and recreation:

“Given the technical complexity of the issue, the level of confusion expressed by voters about the effect of voting yes or no, the public acknowledgement by referendum sponsors that the vote was not about Bradwood and that it would not impact the project, it’s difficult to draw any conclusions about the results, regardless of the vote,” said Desmond.

On March 20th, 2008, the Commission approved Bradwood Landing’s consolidated land use application on a 4-1 vote, which included an extensive set of conditions the County imposed. Contained in those pages was a request that Bradwood seek a conditional use permit for a small portion of its 38 mile pipeline. The decision to allow a conditional use permit was viewed by the referendum sponsors as a change in the land use law and became the subject of the referendum.

After the referendum was qualified and language agreed to for the ballot, Clatsop County Counsel issued an opinion in June that concluded the County lacked jurisdiction over the siting of natural gas pipelines.

Clatsop County asked Bradwood for information on the terminal and the pipeline aspects in order to fully consider our project and we complied. We had noted this same jurisdictional concern in our application to the County when we submitted our data on both the terminal and the pipeline a year earlier.

“Given the county’s recent conclusions regarding lack of jurisdiction, the effect of a NO vote is that it actually simplifies our permitting process,” said Desmond.“That’s because the NO vote only eliminates the condition the County imposed that we apply for a conditional use permit for the .7 tenths of the mile where the pipeline runs through land currently zoned as open space parks and recreation (OPR).”

The land in question is privately owned, and as referendum sponsors readily acknowledge, there are no parks or publicly accessible lands along the pipeline route. This is also why referendum sponsors consistently stated in the public that the vote was not about Bradwood, but about protecting public parks.

All other conditions imposed by the Commission in that March decision remain in effect, such as the widening of Clifton road and ensuring there is a decommissioning plan. Bradwood Landing will fully comply with all remaining conditions.

“That’s why we’ve said from the start that the referendum, as written, would have no meaningful impact on the project’s ability to continue forward”‚ said Desmond.

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A partial list of statements from initiative opponents:
Opposition statement:
“Clearly the referendum cannot halt the project. This is not the subject of the vote.” [Source: “F.A.Q. frequently asked questions,” Clatsop Citizens for Common Sense Web site, clatsopcommonsense.org]

Opposition statement:
“The referendum is not for the small portion of natural gas pipelines that Bradwood has proposed; in fact the referendum has no bearing on the Northern Star project.” [Source: Don West, electronic mail, Aug. 21, 2008]

Opposition statement:
“It’s pretty straight forward; it’s not a ‘no’ vote about the LNG facility itself…” [Source: Marc Auerbach, Dezmo Zone, KAST 1080 AM, August 18, 2008 (27:17 of MP3 file)]

Opposition statement:
“Again this is not a referendum about Bradwood Landing, this is a referendum about County Law…” [Source: Olivia Schmidt, KMUN, August 29, 2008 (6:56 of audio file)]

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About Bradwood Landing:
Bradwood Landing’s coalition of supporters includes the Oregon AFL-CIO, the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council, the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Oregon Machinists Council, the Washington Machinists Council, Carpenters Local 1707 and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (Columbia River Oregon Area), the Steamship Operators Association, and more than 800 Clatsop and Columbia County citizens.

The Bradwood Landing LNG terminal would provide a new source of natural gas directly into the Oregon and Washington natural gas market. It would create more than 450 skilled union jobs during three years of construction and 65 permanent jobs while contributing more than $7.8 million annually in taxes to Clatsop County.

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