© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Coos Bay Approves Dredging Plan For Jordan Cove LNG Terminal

A location at Coos Bay near the proposed dredging site for a liquified natural gas terminal.
Jes Burns/OPB
A location at Coos Bay near the proposed dredging site for a liquified natural gas terminal.

The Coos Bay City Council voted to approve the latest step towards developing the Jordan Cove liquid natural gas (LNG) pipeline on Tuesday.

The decision, passed four to three by council members, gives approval to dredge a section of Coos Bay for the Jordan Cove Energy Project. Dredging for a navigation channel could ultimately be used for a liquified natural gas export terminal if the full project is approved.   

“This just straightens out the shipping lane and then allows them to dredge it to the same depth as the rest of the bay, which is 37 feet,” says Rodger Craddock, Coos Bay city manager.  

The meeting drew protesters and community members opposed to the environmental impacts of dredging and the overall pipeline project. A report by the Lane Council of Governments that was commissioned by the city council described parts of the plan not “in the public interest.”

“Our community is disappointed that the mayor decided to break the tie and ignore the neutral recommendations to protect our bay and let Jordan Cove LNG dredge in a sensitive part of our bay” says Ashley Audycki, the Coos County field organizer for Rogue Climate, an activist group opposed to the Jordan Cove pipeline.  

According to Craddock, additional approval for the LNG pipeline project is required by state and federal agencies including the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Tuesday’s decision was one local step.

“The vote came down as not unexpected,” Craddock says, “There are a large contingent of people that are for the project and a large contingent that are against it.”

Copyright 2020 Jefferson Public Radio

Erik Neumann is a radio producer and writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, his work has appeared on public radio stations and in magazines along the West Coast. He received his Bachelor's Degree in geography from the University of Washington and a Master's in Journalism from UC Berkeley. Besides working at KUER, he enjoys being outside in just about every way possible.
Erik Neumann
Erik Neumann is an experienced radio producer and reporter who grew up alongside the Puget Sound. He's passionate about telling the human stories behind America's health care system, public lands and the environment, and the arts. He got his Masters degree at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Erik joined JPR after several years as a staff reporter at KUER, the NPR station in Salt Lake City, where he focused on health care coverage. He was a 2019 Mountain West fellow with the Association of Health Care Journalists and is a contributor at Kaiser Health News, a non-profit news service committed to in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics.