Liquefied natural
gas (LNG) terminals pose a developing threat to commercial and
recreational fishing in the Gulf. Currently,
seven of the 23 facilities proposed for the Gulf are designed to use an
open-rack vaporizer, or open-loop system, which would run
Gulf seawater through radiator-like racks.
One terminal
alone would use 200 million gallons of Gulf water a day to
vaporize the natural gas. The drastic temperature change, chlorination,
and physical damage caused by the process would destroy billions of
fish eggs and
larvae by the day. The cumulative impacts of these facilities could be
a significant blow to our fisheries. The Freeport McMoRan and
ConocoPhilips terminals which are currently open for public comment are
proposed in
essential habitat for shrimp, redfish, king mackerel, red
snapper, blue fin tuna and other important species.
Alternatives to
open-loop terminals exist and are supported by fisheries experts at the
federal and state level throughout the Gulf. Take action today to tell
the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation to permit only
fish-friendly technology.
Please take a moment to personalize the beginning of the suggested letter below. By adding your specific concerns your comment will be far more effective.
>>FISHERIES IMPACTS
From the Final Environmental Impact Statement of Freeport McMoRan's Main Pass terminal: "Two of the four fish species evaluated in the EIS, red drum and red
snapper, are currently under a regulatory rebuilding program administered by NMFS because of the degradation of stock levels from overfishing. In this context, NMFS has concluded that any additional stress to the affected populations from entrainment and impingement due to seawater intake from LNG deepwater ports could lead to further reductions in commercial and recreational harvest in order to meet established goals for fisheries stock recovery. As a result, in its review of the MPEH Draft EIS, NMFS disagreed with the USCG's conclusions that the impacts to marine fishery resources would be minor:
"NMFS considers mortality caused by the proposed LNG facility to be a significant additional but avoidable mortality factor that could affect the health of some marine fisheries...(s)uch an impact would be even more critical for species that are overfished, subject to overfishing and undergoing rebuilding efforts (e.g., red snapper and red drum)"
