This Monday, we filed joint comments with Defenders of Wildlife, Save RGV from LNG, and local groups to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reiterating our request to the agency to revisit their environmental analysis to address the true capacity of NextDecade’s fracked gas project, Rio Grande LNG, and include the resulting and corresponding impact it would have on the surrounding communities and environment.
This joint letter follows our previous alert to FERC, dated May 30th, where we shed light on misinformation from Rio Grande LNG to FERC regarding their proposed fracked gas capacity as compared to the fracked gas capacity showcased in a corporate presentation to investors by Rio Grande LNG’s parent company NextDecade dated May 2019. On June 3rd, the developer responded to the letter by stating to FERC that it had no plans to export more than the proposed 27 million tons per annum (mtpa) capacity, but Rio Grande LNG did not dispute that, contrary to what it had previously told FERC, the facility would have the physical capacity to export at least 33 mtpa.
Additionally, as stated in a press release dated May 28th, NextDecade announced that it had signed contracts for the “engineering, procurement, and construction” of the first three of the six proposed trains, with “each liquefaction train expected to have capacity up to 5.87 mtpa of LNG.” NextDecade followed this press release with a new corporate presentation that reiterates higher capacity figures of up to 5.87 mtpa per train. A much larger figure than what Rio Grande LNG had proposed to FERC.
For the residing communities, any additional gas exporting means it impacts the whole cycle. Increasing output impacts issues that FERC agreed were within the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (for example, increased ship traffic). Inevitably, with more gas comes the usage of more LNG tanker ships and the increased impact on the environment as a whole including the residing wildlife.
“NextDecade has told FERC and the public one thing and investors another when it comes to how much fracked gas may be shipped through Texas communities and to this facility for export,” said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Nathan Matthews. “It is critical that FERC commissioners take this issue seriously and reassess the true impact this polluting facility would have on communities and the climate.”
As of now, the Rio Grande LNG and Rio Bravo Pipeline projects have yet to receive final permits or approvals needed from the Army Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Service, or FERC.