08/19/2008

Associated Press

An Oregon state senator says a liquefied natural gas plant at Warrenton on the Oregon coast could endanger planes using a nearby airport, and federal authorities have been asked to rule on the question.

The facility proposed at Warrenton's Skipanon Peninsula would have 195-foot-tall storage tanks, and they would protrude into the air space around the Astoria Regional Airport, said Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, a licensed commercial pilot.

The project includes three tanks, each about the height of a 17-story building and nearly as wide as a football field is long. The tanks would hold the supercooled liquid delivered by ship to the facility, which would reheat the gas to a vapor and distribute it via pipeline.

Oregon LNG Chief Executive Officer Peter Hansen said even if the tops of the storage tanks do enter protected airspace, he doesn't think they qualify as a hazard to the airport under federal rules. He submitted an application to the Federal Aviation Administration to determine whether Johnson is right.

"As an experienced pilot, I believe the location and height of the proposed liquefied natural gas tanks are dangerous to the citizens living around the airport, and to the crews that land and take off at the airport," Johnson wrote earlier this summer to the Port of Astoria Commission, which runs the airport and leases the proposed facility site to Oregon LNG.

She said the terminal could hamper use of the airport and urged port authorities to hold hearings.

"The Port is waiting to see what the FAA has to say," said its director of operations Ron Larsen. "They're the ones who make the determination as to whether something like that would be disruptive to the airport. ... They could say it's perfectly fine, just make sure you put lights on it."

Larsen said the port didn't know the LNG storage tanks would be so tall they would enter the protected airspace. Now, he said, it does appear the tops of the tanks will cut into that space.

Hansen submitted an application to the FAA to determine the airport safety issues associated with his development. The review is standard for any tall structure around an airport, whether it's an LNG storage tank, a windmill or an antennae, he said.

"They are in the process of doing the study," Hansen said. "We believe the FAA should be left alone to make that determination."