Taylor Bickford, Campaign Manager

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently made a decision to require that the permit held by the Yukon Pacific Corporation (YPC) for the proposed LNG Terminal at Anderson Bay in Valdez be updated to reflect current safety and regulatory requirements enacted since the permit was originally issued. Today, Bill Walker made the following statement in response to this decision:

“This permit, when issued, established a three year period for the start of construction of the LNG facility at Anderson Bay. Since construction had not begun, YPC had previously been granted extensions of the start date for the LNG terminal. I believe their decision to now require an updated permit may be a sign of things to come for resource development in Alaska following the recent Gulf Coast oil spill.”

“Those who have reviewed the Yukon Pacific permits have consistently said that it is the environmental data that had been collected over a period of approximately ten years that is critical. Updating a permit to reflect changes in the regulations represents a minor road bump, not a significant detriment to the project as some are suggesting.”

In a letter to YPC, Jeff C. Wright of FERC stated very clearly that their action only impacts the LNG terminal permit at Valdez and not the export license or pipeline permits. The decision “will not have any direct bearing on any future consideration of an LNG export option.,” said Wright last week.

In an interview with the Alaska Public Radio Network Walker explained that supporters of the All Alaska Gasline have long known that some existing permits might have to be updated. “That sort of goes without saying that something that old is gonna have to be updated and we’ve always said that,” commented Walker.