FERC Permitting for LNG Terminal

TRC led the permitting and design process for this LNG project.

The LNG Marine Terminal was located in a Designated Critical Habitat for the Federally-endangered Gulf Sturgeon. TRC engaged a nationally-recognized Gulf Sturgeon scientist to conduct SCUBA surveys of the berth area to determine the habitat suitability, compare findings to known Sturgeon habitats and negotiate the appropriate mitigation through formal consultation with NOAA Fisheries.

During the middle of the permitting and design process, Hurricane Katrina made landfall just 10 miles west of the project location in Biloxi, MS. As a result, TRC had to make significant changes to the project’s design to provide additional protection from possible severe storm events. These changes included an increase in the height of the storm surge/containment dike and the redesign of the jetty structures to protect the facility during severe weather events. TRC met with the Commission Staff to discuss hurricane-related modifications to the Environmental Report to address post-hurricane conditions. In addition, TRC modified the individual Resource Reports to include updated information that was reflective of current conditions in the project area. Additional analysis was also conducted to assess the project’s impacts and benefits against the current conditions.

For this project, EPA required additional air modeling for non-PSD source. TRC conducted a joint air quality dispersion modeling analysis to estimate the impacts of emissions sources associated with the LNG Clean Energy and proposed neighboring Casotte Landing LNG Project. Three emission scenarios were modeled by TRC for the LNG Clean Energy Project alone and a joint scenario for both projects together. Two geographical areas were included in the analysis; the Breton Wilderness Area (Class I area) and the near-field area surrounding the LNG terminals (Class II area). TRC conducted the modeling using CALPUFF.

The project was constructed and placed into service in October 2011.

Client

Gulf LNG Energy, LLC

Project Location

Pascagoula, Mississippi