Today is your chance to weigh in on LNG draft environmental review in person
If you want to hear what others are saying about the latest environmental review of the liquified natural gas facility under construction on the Tacoma Tideflats, or want to add to that conversation, then Tuesday’s your day.
Two rounds of public hearings are scheduled for 2-5 p.m. and 6:30-10 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Rialto Theater, 310 S. Ninth St. in Tacoma.
The hearings will offer a chance for people to weigh in on the draft supplemental environmental impact statement for the plant. They come amid a public comment period where the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is taking feedback on the report, which was released Oct. 8 and prepared by Ecology and Environment Inc.
The supplemental statement was ordered earlier this year by the clean air agency as part of Puget Sound Energy’s air-permitting process for the LNG site, and is to supplement the city’s final environmental impact statement.
According to the clean air agency, the report is to offer a “complete quantitative analysis of greenhouse gas emissions upstream and downstream of the LNG facility operations,” which the city’s report did not include.
The draft’s conclusion was that the site would lower greenhouse gas emissions compared with a no-action alternative as long as its sole natural gas source was British Columbia.
Groups of environmentalists, activists and The Puyallup Tribe of Indians, among others, question the findings, particularly when it comes to the report’s 100-year time frame for emissions using 2007 standards of measurement and the reliance on British Columbia.
The public comment period for the draft runs through Nov. 21.
Comments will be accepted verbally and in written form at Tuesday’s hearings. People wanting to offer verbal comments must sign up and comments will be received on first-come, first-served basis at both hearings. Speakers will be limited to up to three minutes each, depending on crowd size, according to the agency.
Publication of the final supplemental environmental impact statement is scheduled for February. More about the clean air agency’s timeline is available https://bit.ly/2DdZD0I
Related coverage:
Where to read the draft supplemental environmental impact statement
▪ Online: https://bit.ly/2QzElgI
▪ In person: Copies are available to read at Tacoma Public Library branches and at The Center at Norpoint, 4818 Nassau Ave. NE.
Other ways to offer comment
▪ By mail: Puget Sound Clean Air Agency ATTN: Public Comment on DSEIS, PSE LNG Project, 1904 Third Ave, Suite 105 Seattle, WA 98101
▪ Fax: 206-343-7522
▪ Email: publiccomment@pscleanair.org
This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 8:00 AM.