About 60 people packed the North Bend Public Library’s meeting room to cheer and jeer as the commissioners of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay adopted two controversial resolutions Thursday night.
Both supporters and opponents of the proposed Jordan Cove LNG facility were vocal as port commissioners David Kronsteiner, Jerry Hampel and Eric Farm approved a resolution in support of the facility’s export permit application to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The facility is one of about 20 whose applications the federal government will evaluate this year to determine whether LNG exports from those sites are in the nation’s best interest. The only two proposed facilities applying on the West Coast are Jordan Cove and a site in Warrenton, on the Columbia River.
Board president Kronsteiner said the port’s resolution would have an effect on the Department of Energy.
During the public comment period, supporters and opponents of Jordan Cove weighed in.
“I think this is great for the state of Oregon, for the county, for the Bay Area, for the cities and all of the businesses,” said Rick Skinner, a manager at Knife River Materials and a Bay Area Chamber of Commerce board member.
“It’s just a way to retain our children here so that they can enjoy the things we’ve enjoyed all this time.”
Patty Cook said, “I’ve talked to a lot of community members myself, and there are a lot of them who support this project.”
Addressing safety concerns, she said, “My husband’s a fireman, and he is completely fine with having Jordan Cove here. He’s spoken with Jordan Cove, and they’ve shown (the firefighters) a lot of things that maybe the general public doesn’t know about.”
In contrast, J.C. Williams said it wasn’t “morally responsible” to allow people to work in an LNG plant on the North Spit, which she said was subject to earthquake activity and tsunami inundation.
Jonathan Hanson went further, calling the commissioners’ involvement with Jordan Cove “a criminal enterprise.” He said Jordan Cove Energy Project had violated the National Energy Policy Act and anti-racketeering laws by proceeding with regulatory applications before the project’s Environmental Impact Statement was finalized.
Anti-LNG activist Jody McCaffree urged the commissioners to reject the resolution, offering evidence that it was based on false claims.
“For instance, they state that they are going to export gas to Hawaii and Alaska. Hawaii is going to import gas, but not from tankers,” she said. “They are going to use ISO (intermodal) containers from Long Beach (Calif.) and Los Angeles. Alaska is working to export North Slope gas; they’re not going to be importing gas.”
Marina fees
Though the comments on LNG were passionate on both sides, when the commissioners took up a resolution to adopt higher fees for customers of its Charleston marina, RV park and shipyard, they didn’t seem to have a single ally in the audience.
Speaking of the raised fees, Knute Nemeth, who described himself as a “former fisherman” and the president of the Charleston Community Enhancement Project, said “I’ve talked to a lot of people who are going to pull the plug” on using marina services.
Nemeth also suggested that the commissioners reconsider a plan to fence off land for boat storage near the kayak launch south of the Charleston Bridge. He said it would be better to make it a grassy plot with picnic tables so the public could enjoy more access to the South Slough. Boat storage would be better provided by private businesses rather than by the port, he said.
Several commenters lambasted the commissioners for raising fees to make up for deferred maintenance. Lee Wright said the port had neglected the marina, the source of most of its income, in favor of projects such as the Coos Bay Rail Link.
“You’re going to have to start paying attention, because you haven’t been paying attention,” Wright said.
In response to the complaints, commissioner Jerry Hampel said, “I’d like staff to take a look at individual concerns in these areas.”
“I don’t want the door slammed in their face,” Hampel said.
Port CEO David Koch said staff planned to hear more from the public after the comments of about 100 people at two recent budget meetings.
Although the budget submitted to the board Thursday night still contained fee increases, Koch said staff plan to implement discounts for customers using multiple port services — for example, someone who uses boat storage, works on their boat in the shipyard and occupies an RV spot.
The commissioners adopted the budget, which includes pay freezes and benefit cuts for staff.
Later, Kathy Wall, the port’s chief financial officer, said the discounts would likely take effect in October.
In other business, the port:
- Awarded a contract to repair rail bridges over the Siuslaw and Umpqua rivers and Coos Bay to Osmose, the only bidder that remained in the bidding process.
- Awarded staff $6,383 in merit pay, to be divided among all staff, because the port met one of its 10 goals last year.
- Tabled a motion to amend Koch’s employment contract to allow his pay freeze and benefits cut. Hampel said he’d rather consider that motion when absent commissioners Brady Scott and Donna Opitz were present.
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