Public comment period open for new Alaska LNG permit

Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The public comment period is open for a new permit application for the Alaska Liquid Natural Gas project.

The Alaska LNG project involves the construction of a gas treatment plant on Alaska’s North Slope, a new liquefaction facility near Nikiski and an 807-mile long pipeline to connect the two facilities. The pipeline would run through multiple specially designated areas, including Denali National Park and Preserve, Denali State Park, Minto Flats and Susitna Flats state game refuges.

The permit application, submitted by the Alaska Gasoline Development Corporation, is in regards to the waterways that would be affected by the construction of the project. The application is being reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Corps will review the project to ensure it meets the standards of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, according to their public notice released on Dec. 30. The EPA and ADEC will determine if the project meets the standards of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act.

The proposed project, according to the public notice, would result in the permanent loss of 10,323.78 acres of waterways, including wetlands. AGDC also identified a total of 8,730.26 acres of waterways that would be temporarily impacted during construction.

The application includes information on how AGDC proposes to avoid, minimize or compensate for impacts to waterways. The requirements for compensation and mitigation will be determined by the EPA and ADEC.

Anyone who wishes to submit comments on the proposed project can do so until Feb. 28. All comments should include the reference number for the Public Notice, POA-2015-00329. Supplemental project information can be found at the Army Corps of Engineer’s website, www.poa.usace.army.mil.

Comments regarding the Public Notice should be submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers by email to regpagemaster@usace.army.mil or by mail to the following address:

Regulatory Division (1145)

CEPOA-RD

P.O. Box 6898

JBER, Alaska 99506-0898

Comments regarding proposed project features that would be located within Denali National Park and Preserve should be submitted to the EPA by email to R10_Wetlands_and_Oceans@epa.gov or by mail to the following address:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Region 10

1200 Sixth Avenue

Mail Stop 19-C04

Seattle, Washington 98101-3140

Attn: Ms. Linda Storm

Comments regarding all other features of the project outside of Denali National Park and Preserve should be submitted to ADEC by email to dec-401cert@alaska.gov or by mail to the following address:

Department of Environmental Conservation

WDAP/401 Certification

555 Cordova Street

Anchorage, Alaska 99501-2617