One year ago, Governor Blanco
pledged to oppose further development of open-loop LNG terminals in the
Gulf of Mexico unless environmental impacts could be demonstrated to be
negligable. Since that time federal and state fisheries experts
have continued to oppose the use of this technology, while oil and gas
corporations have lobbied intensely and paid for 'science' to make
their case.
Friday May 5th,
Governor Blanco stood up for healthy Gulf fish populations by standing
strong against open-loop LNG terminals.
In vetoing the McMoRan terminal, the Governor guaranteed that closed loop alternatives would be developed throughout the Gulf. Take action today
to thank Governor Blanco for her leadership.
Please take a moment to personalize the beginning of the suggested letter below. By adding your specific concerns your fax 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)"
