Stop Fracked Gas Exports at Cove Point

At an idyllic place called Cove Point, just 50 miles south of the White House on the Chesapeake Bay, a company called Dominion Resources wants to build a massive export terminal to take gas from fracking wells across Appalachia, liquefy it and ship it overseas to be burned in Asia. Cove Point would be the first liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export terminal on the East Coast. It would trigger massive new amounts of climate pollution and incentivize a wave of new fracking and pipelines across the region – all so a few gas companies can make bigger profits.

Given evidence that Dominion’s proposed Cove Point project will harm regional air and water quality, increase the demand for dangerous natural gas fracking, and trigger an exorbitant amount of greenhouse gas pollution – potentially equal to all of Maryland’s coal-fired power plants combined – this project is not in the public interest.

The only way that FERC could possibly justify the Cove Point project is by sweeping the dangers under the rug, and that’s exactly what the draft “Environmental Assessment” (EA) does. If FERC takes any next step on this project, it must be to conduct a full, comprehensive, and credible Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), specifically one that:
1) Analyzes the “upstream” damage that Cove Point could trigger via expanded fracking and gas infrastructure, given that a major Pennsylvania fracking company – Cabot Oil & Gas - has committed to pipe gas to Cove Point for export.
2) Accounts for the cumulative, lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions Cove Point would trigger from fracking well to pipeline to tanker ship to final smoke stack.
3) Includes an independent, quantitative risk assessment of explosion hazards that could reach nearby homes. FERC’s reliance on Dominion’s own data – and Dominion’s proposed system of untested “vapor barrier” walls -- to dismiss off-site safety concerns is unacceptable.

Any thorough and credible examination of the impacts of this project will show that the public and the environment will come out a significant loser, while the gas industry profits. I urge you to deny Dominion’s application right now or, at absolute minimum, conduct a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement.

FERC recently released a draft environmental review of this Cove Point project that sweeps its dangers under the rug – paving the way for Dominion and the gas industry.

During the 30-day public comment period, it’s our turn to speak, and we need to make a LOT of noise.

Find out more information at stopcovepoint.org!