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​Cheniere LNG

Corpus Christi Liquefaction (Cheniere LNG) operates a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility near Portland. Huge LNG tankers can be seen every day traversing La Quinta Channel about 150 feet offshore. 

On the left is a photo of a Cheniere LNG tanker heading down La Quinta Ship Channel and view from Bayshore Drive in Ingleside on the Bay. 

GreenPeace LNG tracker!!!
A map to explore the LNG Tankers arriving and departing operational LNG export terminals in the U.S.
The U.S. recently became the world’s leading exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG). Much of that is exported via the Gulf Coast from facilities in Texas and Louisiana. Greenpeace USA put together this tanker tracker in order to investigate and monitor the activity in this region and the ramifications it has around the globe. Check out Bloomberg's article: How One Methane Scientist Influenced Biden’s Pause on LNG Approvals. 

IT IS NOW TIME TO COMMENT TO FERC ON THIS ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT!

Here is a copy of the 435 page Environmental Assessment. ​

Last year approximately 215 Large Natural (fracked and piped in) Gas Carriers (LNGC) transversed in and then out of Corpus Christi Bay on La Quinta Ship Channel right in front of Ingleside on the Bay, Ingleside Cove Sanctuary, Gregory and Portland Texas.
Cheniere already as approval for a total of 400 LNGC. The ship wakes from the 215 seen last year are already causing these areas significant damages to personal property, coastal erosion, depletion of seagrass, upsafe boating and swimming conditions, silting in of beaches and marina, reduction of marine life, along with air, noise, light, and water pollution.
We tried to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to demand a more stringent environment review called an Environmental Impact Statement to TRULY show the devastation happening to these areas, BUT FERC went with the lesser environmental review called Environmental Assessment.  

To ensure that the Commission has the opportunity to consider your comments prior to making its decision on this Project, it is important that they receive your comments in Washington, DC on or before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July 22, 2024.
For your convenience, there are three methods you can use to file your comments with the FERC Commission. The Commission encourages electronic filing of comments and has staff available to assist you at (866) 208-3676 or [email protected].
HOW TO MAKE YOUR COMMENT

1. If you have never filed a comment complaint with FERC you must first register an online account HERE: Link to register an online FERC account
2. After you have registered you will need to verify your email address. After that is done, select “FERC Online Home” and then select “Log In” and log in with your new credentials.
3. After you have logged in, select “eFile”, Then select “General” in the first window, in the second window select “Comment (on filing, environ, report or tech conf), then select comment and hit “Next”. 
4. Enter the docket number CP23-129 and hit search. Then select the “Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to Construct the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Midscale Trains 8 & 9 Project” by selecting the + sign on the right and hit "Next"
5. The next screen is where you can upload any videos or files.If you do not have a video or file hit "Next" 
6. The next page you will be asked to add a contact email and then hit the tab "add as signer" and hit "next". This window is where you will write your written comments (Please request Cheniere to do an Environment Impact Statement) and hit "next".
7. This last screen will be a summary of everything you have completed and after reviewing it, hit "SUBMIT". 

June 18, 2024, Earthworks and Oil Change International released a new report, Certified Gaslighting, detailing how companies use “certification” schemes to greenwash dirty methane gas. You can read the new report HERE or fact sheet HERE.
Almost 40% of US gas is now “certified” by third-party companies, allowing fossil fuel producers to claim reduced methane emissions. The problem? The claims are false. Gas certification promotes false data and enables gas companies to continue or expand operations under the guise of reduced emissions: 

• Failing technology: Over 10 months, Earthworks thermographers captured evidence of 23 emissions events at oil and gas well sites in Colorado. Only one of those events was recorded by industry-operated monitors. 
  • This builds on last year’s Certified Disasters report, in which on-site monitors detected none of the 22 emissions events Earthworks thermographers captured.
• Methane emissions continue to rise: The fossil fuel industry claims it is reducing emissions, but independent estimates show the global oil and gas sector released over 79.5 million metric tons of methane in 2023. While the certification industry has grown rapidly, U.S. methane emissions continue to rise.
• Falsely justifying fossil fuel expansion: The gas industry has accelerated the adoption of certification and has increasingly pressed regulators, including the DOE and EPA, to use certification as a proxy for regulatory oversight. 
  • Oil and gas companies are pushing for certification in voluntary international methane measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification frameworks meant to boost LNG exports, secure tax credits for hydrogen projects, and influence USDOE’s pause on LNG export terminals.
• Passing on costs to customers: Utility companies across the United States are purchasing certified gas, passing premiums onto consumers, and claiming to make progress toward climate targets.

While the oil and gas industry is increasingly turning to these so-called gas certification schemes, no matter the label – “natural” gas, “responsibly sourced,” “differentiated,” “certified,” or “next-gen” – the truth remains the same. Methane gas is a threat to people and the planet.

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Past Notices

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Cheniere Expansion of trains 8 & 9: Currently awaiting FERC final determination

Thank you for your comments!!! Unfortunately for Ingleside on the Bay, Ingleside, Gregory, and Portland FERC went with the less environmental review. An Environment Assessment. 

As of March 2024, correspondance continues between 
The United States Coast Guard supported Cheniere by telling FERC that  "Based upon a comprehensive review of the applicant's WSA and after consultation with state and local port stakeholders, I recommend that the Corpus Christi and La Quinta Ships Channels be considered suitable for accommodating the type and frequency of LNG marine traffic associated with this project."
How can they even say this? We are already seeing significant environmental impacts with the 215 LNGC seen last year. We have yet to see what the already approved 400 LNGC will do!!! This permit application for an additional 80 LNGC for a total of 480 LNGC is unfathomable!!! 

Our contention is that a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is needed because: 

• the comments submitted during scoping were so substantial and broad-reaching

• the last ​EIS done for Cheniere was in 2014 before Train 1 was constructed and FERC has permitted 7 full LNG trains (400 LNGC) since then with NO full environmental analyses!
• evidence presented during both pre-filing and on Docket CP23-129 show that the detrimental effects of issuing this permit will outweigh the beneficial effects.

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Thank you for all who attended! MORE Care, LESS Flare!!!

​Cheniere Public Meeting June 20th, 7pm at East Cliff Elementary (School Cafeteria) 1140 Broadway Boulevard, Portland, TX

Cheniere is once again trying to increase the amount of air pollution it releases in San Patricio County, putting the health and livelihoods of people who live in Gregory, Taft, and Portland at risk. 
If the state allows Cheniere to release MORE pollutants (such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, organic compounds, particulate matter, hydrogen sulfide), it will mean MORE of us living nearby could be at risk to MORE health problems, ranging from asthma and nosebleeds to increased risk of cancer.

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Cheniere Wastewater Discharge WQ000464600: IOBCWA was denied a Contested Case Hearing status with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. A Motion to Overturn was filed April 2024

Permit WQ0004646000 relates to the draining of the 101-acre Raw Water Lake (bauxite pond) into La Quinta Channel back in 2015. While it may be true that WQ0004646000 on its own may reduce outfalls and wastewater discharge, we have alleged all along that this permit is part of a suspicious and confusing series of connections actions authorized on other TCEQ permits and enforcement actions, specifically WQ0004640000 (CLH), WQ000536700 (Corpus Christi Liquefaction), and Order 2019-0215-IWD-E (Corpus Christi Alumina) that obscures what
really happened to remediate the 101-acre raw water lake that contained toxic bauxite for decades. IOBCWA is requesting 
 1) understand and be assured how the Sherwin Alumina bauxite remediation occurred in the past
2) establish a timeline and parameters for conducting a health study in the region
3) develop an ongoing water quality monitoring program to ensure safety of human health and environment
4) establish a plan for corrective action should health or environmental concerns be identified.

• Link to the TCEQ Docket No. 2019-0215-IWD-E; Permit No. WQ0004646000 Agreed Order Assessing Administrative Penalties and Requiring Certain Actions regarding this toxic bauxite release. 

• These ships pass within 25 yards of residential properties of Ingleside on the Bay. Currently, LNG ship traffic has caused coastal erosion, damage to piers and properties while complaints to the Port of Corpus Christi and Cheniere have fallen on deaf ears. 
• Cheniere is damaging private citizen’s property through the course of their operations raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. The current and ongoing damage to property owners should be compensated and future damage mitigated.
• Cheniere is a #1 Polluter, emitting more than 10 times more pollution than any other industry in our area. Yet, the inability of the facility to meet current air permitting limitations are demonstrated by hundreds of deviations and emissions events over the last several years. The lack of state regulatory enforcement is a risk to our communities. This facility should not be allowed to expand.
• Cheniere’s turbines release thousands of pounds of formaldehyde each year into the airshed just across the Cove from us. Formaldehyde is a hazardous air pollutant known to cause cancer of the nasal passages and throat, leukemia and other respiratory tract cancers. This formaldehyde and the additional emissions that will occur with this expansion directly endangers the health of the citizens of IOB.

6/30/23: Comments due TCEQ on Cheniere air quality permits 105710 & 39479
5/4/23: Comments due FERC CP-23-129 on Cheniere's application for expansion of trains 8 & 9 that will more than double the number of ships passing through the La Quinta Channel. IOBCWA has FERC Intervenor Status

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Cheniere Complaints

During 2022, the following complaints were submitted and investigated re: Cheniere (Corpus Christi Liquefaction):

• Investigation of Violations #1805519
• 3/1/22 Complaints 375870, 375905, 375910, 375913, 375916 ---> Investigation #1802723
• 4/7/22 Complaint #377643 --->
• 4/15/22 Complaint #377971 (STEERS) ---> Investigation #1819375
• 5/13/22 Complaint #379477 ---> 
• 5/27/22 Complaint #380273 --->
• 7/19/22 Complaint #383733 ---> Investigation #1833530

There was an in-person TCEQ Public Meeting on June 30, 2022 at 7pm at Portland Community Center, 2000 Billy G. Webb, Portland, TX. 
Citizens were encouraged to submit comments on Cheniere Air Permit 105710 by the end of the meeting on 6/30/22 at ​https://www14.tceq.texas.gov/epic/eComment. ​
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Some key points:

• Requested Permit Pollution Amounts are unacceptably high
• Special Conditions need to include more monitoring
• Data from Cheniere's monitoring stations, SCI monitors managed by IOBCWA, and Oil & Gas Imagery (OGI) videos taken by EarthWorks all show that unacceptable emissions are already occurring from Cheniere
• Investigations launched on 3/1/22 from the OGI videos have not been released yet.
• Complaints filed in May during massive flaring over several days were dropped and not investigated by TCEQ.
• There's too much flaring causing light pollution and emissions.