Andy Li, andy.li@sierraclub.org
Stephanie Ebbs, sebbs@selc.org, 202-915-9795
NRDC: Emily Deanne, edeanne@nrdc.org, 202-717-8288
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Local fishermen, community members and leaders, and public interest organizations filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking to halt harmful construction of Venture Global’s massive Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and pipeline in southwest Louisiana.
"We have been warning from the beginning that this project will harm our community and our livelihoods and now our warnings are coming true. This dredging risks permanently harming the way of life for Louisiana fisherfolk,” said James Hiatt, executive director of For a Better Bayou. “We urge the court to take these violations seriously and finally put people's lives over corporate interests by stopping construction immediately."
The motion argues that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unlawfully approved the project without adequately weighing its devastating impacts on coastal communities, commercial fisheries, and fragile ecosystems. Despite acknowledging the harms, FERC allowed Virginia-based Venture Global to begin dredging and other high-impact construction activities in the heart of a thriving fishery, threatening shrimp, crab, and oyster populations — and the livelihoods of the families who depend on them—all for export.
“FERC has ignored the voices of Gulf Coast communities and rubber-stamped yet another LNG terminal that serves foreign markets at the expense of American fishermen and consumers,” said Megan Gibson, SELC Senior Attorney representing the fishermen and other petitioners. “Our clients are facing irreparable harm — once a shrimping season is lost, these family businesses may never recover.”
“This project should have never been allowed to move forward but recent construction activities already harming the area—as we have been telling FERC for years would happen - are even further reason that construction should be shut down.”
On August 4, 2024, dredged sediment spilled out of containment and caused unplanned harm to at least 260 acres of marsh. According to local reports, this spill “buried crab traps, oyster beds, and killed wildlife in the area.” If construction is allowed to continue more harm could occur, including the planned modification or destruction of 1,400 acres of wetland.
"Venture Global’s CP2 LNG project has already caused significant damage to the sensitive environment and resources of southwest Louisiana, and is on track to cause even more irreparable damage during this litigation,” said Rebecca McCreary, Staff Attorney with Sierra Club Environmental Law Program. “Organizations and impacted communities have long spoken out about the anticipated impacts from this project and sadly we are seeing many of these harms come to fruition."
“In approving this project, FERC is putting fossil fuel company profits over the livelihood of fishermen who have lived and worked in this region for generations,” said Gillian Giannetti, NRDC Senior Attorney and Director of Fossil Strategy. “The construction of LNG terminals in the Calcasieu Ship Channel poses an irreversible and unacceptable threat to communities in Louisiana.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
About Southern Environmental Law Center
The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation’s most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region’s air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 200, including more than 130 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. selc.org
About NRDC
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).