WASHINGTON – A coalition of local fisherfolk, community members and leaders, and public interest organizations filed their opening brief this week in the U.S. Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit challenging FERC’s approval of Virginia-based Venture Global’s massive Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and feeder pipeline in southwest Louisiana. The brief argues, among other things, that FERC failed to perform the core balancing the Natural Gas Act requires—downplaying or evading significant, concrete harms to local industry, communities, and air quality.
The coalition is represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, and the Sierra Club.
Fishers and local advocates say the agency’s decision overlooks day-to-day realities on the water.
“I’ve fished these waters most of my life. Since the first terminal came online, our catch has fallen off a cliff,” said Anthony Theriot, a Cameron Parish commercial fisherman. “More tankers mean more wake, more delays in the channel, and more mud stirred up where shrimp and oysters should be. The quality of our lives, air, and waters are declining, and FERC just approved this massive, incredibly harmful project on top of everything else. We’re fighting for a future where our kids can still work these waters.”
“Fisherfolk in these communities have relied on these waterways for generations but since the first terminal came online their livelihood is under threat,” said James Hiatt, Executive Director of For a Better Bayou. “We don’t need yet another export terminal, and it should never have been approved. We urge the court to take these harms seriously and put people’s livelihoods and lives over corporate interests by vacating this authorization.”
“Under the Natural Gas Act, FERC’s job isn’t to rubber-stamp export facilities and pipelines—it’s to make a reasoned, record-based public interest determination,” said Megan Gibson, Senior Attorney at SELC. “This means identifying any real benefits, grappling with the foreseeable harms, and explaining why any alleged benefits actually outweigh those harms. Instead, FERC tallied the upside of serving a private export terminal and overseas buyers while sidelining the very real costs to Cameron’s multigenerational fishing families, local communities, and consumers. That is not what the law allows—and it’s why we’re asking the court to vacate this authorization.”
Commissioner Allison Clements dissented from FERC’s approval, concluding that CP2 LNG’s “adverse environmental and socioeconomic impacts are so great” that approving the project is inconsistent with the public interest.
On August 4, 2024, dredged sediment spilled out of containment and caused unplanned harm to at least 260 acres of marsh. According to reporting, 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.
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.