Alabama Gov. Cites Environmental Concerns In Rejecting Proposed Offshore Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal

Mobile, AL (AHN) - Alabama Gov. Bob Riley has rejected a proposed project by a Texas company to build an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal in the Gulf of Mexico about 63 miles south of Mobile.

In a statement Thursday, Riley said that his decision incorporated concerns about the potential adverse environmental impact on marine life.

On Tuesday, he had met with officials of the Houston-based company that wanted to build the terminal.

During that meeting, officials with TORP Technologies had offered the state between $25 million and $30 million for "marine enhancements" that might be necessary if the process it used to warm the super-chilled LNG damaged marine life in the Gulf.

The process would have used an open loop process that would use seawater to heat up the natural gas, which had previously been liquefied by chilling it to -260 degrees Fahrenheit, to prepare it to be used in pipes, then the seawater would have been returned to the Gulf.

But environmentalists and conservation groups opposed the project, saying it pollutes the water, lowers its temperature and could kill fish eggs and plankton and hurt fishing.

Some environmentalists said they wouldn't have opposed the $500 million project if it had used a closed loop process, which uses natural gas to heat the liquefied natural gas coming off ships.

Houston, Texas-based TORP (Terminal Offshore Regas Plant) develops offshore LNG receiving and regasification terminals based on the HiLoad LNG Re-gasification Technology developed by Remora Technology, to which it holds the rights.