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Future Of Oregon LNG Terminal Could Hinge on 1957 Easement

Liquefied natural gas in transport. A legal battle over property rights between the Oregon LNG project and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could decide the future of proposed LNG exports in Warrenton, Oregon.
Ken Hodge/Flickr
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Liquefied natural gas in transport. A legal battle over property rights between the Oregon LNG project and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could decide the future of proposed LNG exports in Warrenton, Oregon.

The company behind a project to export liquefied natural gas from the northwest corner of Oregon has run into a new challenge: The federal government might have permanent rights to use the site of its proposed shipping terminal.

The Oregon LNG project proposes a terminal on the Skipanon Peninsula in Warrenton, on the mouth of the Columbia River, that would receive North American natural gas via pipeline and ship it overseas.

But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claims it already has an easement on that same site to deposit the leftover muck from its river dredging -- and has since 1957. Permanent rights for the Army Corps to deposit those dredging spoils could prevent the terminal’s construction, regardless of what environmental and land-use permits the project secures.

The Corps’ claim to an easement has been an unknown factor in the controversial LNG project, which began in 2004. Oregon LNG filed a lawsuit challenging the Army Corps easement in August. But even that lawsuit went largely unreported until the environmental advocacy group Columbia Riverkeeper noticed the issue and posted a news release on its website.

Columbia Riverkeeper has staunchly opposed the project for environmental reasons, ranging from its impact on Columbia River salmon to concerns over the process used to extract the gas.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not respond to a request for comment. Oregon LNG Project Manager Peter Hansen declined comment on the dispute, citing pending litigation.

“It’s an issue that will be resolved,” Hansen said. “It would be inappropriate to comment in the middle of litigation.”

As for why the lawsuit was filed now, rather than at the project’s outset nearly a decade ago, Hansen said it was only recently discovered.

“That’s sometimes the way it works with title imperfection issues,” Hansen said.

Oregon LNG’s lawsuit challenges the Army Corps’ right to the property.

The Army Corps in turn filed a motion to dismiss the Oregon LNG complaint, claiming that the statute of limitations for such a claim has run out. The Army Corps also claimed the Oregon Department of State Lands and the Port of Astoria either knew or should have known about the easement, which had been published in tax assessor’s maps.

The Department of State Lands did not respond to requests for comment. Port of Astoria director Jim Knight, who has been in his current job since October, said determining what was known at the time of the lease would require substantial research that his staff wasn't currently prepared to undertake.

Last week, The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the finding of a state appeals board regarding the Oregon LNG pipeline. The state appeals board ruled a commissioner in Clatsop County was biased and unfit to vote on a permit for the Oregon LNG pipeline.The county commission voted against the pipeline.

The Court of Appeals ruling found no bias and sends the commission vote to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals for further consideration.

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