AMEN

From The Oregonian September 27, 2009



Forty miles up the Columbia River from Astoria, Bradwood Landing was an industrial site from 1856 through 1965 and will be again if final state permits are issued for a liquefied natural gas terminal proposed by NorthernStar Natural Gas.

Wrongheaded recall elections looming in Clatsop County are a sure sign the fight over liquefied natural gas development there has gotten out of hand.

County Commissioners Ann Samuelson and Jeff Hazen face recall in an election Oct. 27. Their transgression? They approved land-use applications for a bitterly contested LNG terminal at Bradwood Landing on the lower Columbia River.

Opponents are collecting signatures for an election to recall a third commissioner, Patricia Roberts, who also backed the developers' application.

If any of the three had engaged in unlawful conduct in supporting the LNG project, its opponents would be justified in seeking to give them the boot. No such official allegations exist, but that hasn't stopped anti-LNG campaigners from trying to oust them having their own ideas about Bradwood Landing. This is classic misuse of the recall. It should be reserved for malfeasance, not for punishing elected officials who dare to make unpopular decisions.

Clatsop County voters would do well to consider that the three commissioners under fire appear to have voted correctly in accordance with Oregon land-use law. And then there's the fact that the big development proposed at Bradwood Landing, 40 miles upriver from Astoria, isn't at all the industrial boogeyman that its opponents would have everyone believe.

Similar LNG terminals exist all over the world, including in historic Boston Harbor. They've operated safely and cleanly for decades, importing liquefied natural gas that is degassified and piped to markets far and wide.

Northwest Natural Gas Co. projects that the LNG from Bradwood Landing would supply up to a quarter of its customers' gas needs and more later as the region grows. This gas has a net contribution to global warming that is well below that of oil or coal, making it essential for the nation's transition to more renewable energy sources.

The economic impact of the Bradwood project may be secondary, but it's still huge. Construction would provide 450 living-wage jobs over three years, and once operational the terminal would provide millions of dollars of tax revenue to Clatsop County every year.

The Bradwood facility and associated pipelines would provide a billion-dollar economic stimulus, funded privately, at a time when Oregon could sorely use it. Incredibly, however, state regulators seem hell-bent on throwing up roadblocks, even though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted a permit for the project and its developers are committed to meet or exceed every environmental standard.

And now the ugly attacks on three county commissioners. Wielding the recall against them in such fashion has a corrosive effect, discouraging people from running for office and unfairly punishing those willing to stick their necks out and serve.

Clatsop County voters should reject the recall of Hazen and Samuelson on Oct. 27 and refuse to sign petitions seeking the recall of Roberts.