(The Center Square) – Louisiana regulators have reissued a permit for a liquefied natural gas plant in Cameron Parish after a court ruled that a previous environmental study had failed to adequately assess the project’s impacts on local ecosystems.
In October, Judge Penelope Richard of the 38th Judicial District Court in Cameron Parish vacated a coastal use permit issued on the Commonwealth LNG export facility, which would be located on a 393-acre site less than a mile from the entrance to the Gulf on the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel.
The judge ruled on Oct. 23 that state authorities failed to adequately consider the project’s secondary and cumulative environmental effects, specifically the “impact on climate-related change in the coastal zone.” Other large-scale export facilities located along the Calcasieu Ship Channel include Calcasieu LNG and Cameron LNG, and two more are under construction.
In an 86-page Revised Basis of Decision issued on Nov. 18, Office of Coastal Management staff wrote that the agency did not agree with the court’s judgment but also noted the agency had revised and updated the environmental analysis of the project before reissuing the permit. State officials determined “the benefits of this project outweigh the costs to the community.”
Office of Coastal Management, an agency responsible for implementing the Louisiana Coastal Resources Program and regulating development activities within the state’s coastal zone, first issued a permit on the Commonwealth LNG project in July 2024.
”A permit decision was made only after a full and fair consideration of all the information, including balancing social, environmental, and economic factors. Therefore, OCM recommends issuance of this Coastal Use Permit with project specific conditions to bring the activity into full conformance with the Guidelines,” staff wrote in the revised basis of decision.
The Department of Conservation and Energy, which includes the Office of Coastal Management, declined to comment when contacted by The Center Square.
In 2022 and 2023, when the project was initially reviewed, the Office of Coastal Management said it received and considered approximately 770 comments on it. Of those, 709 were made by private citizens opposed to the project, seven were made by federal agencies, and 26 were provided by state and local agencies, agency staff wrote.
Most comments focused on the consideration of alternative sites, the project’s social and economic benefits, the beneficial use of material dredged at the site, evaluations of dredged materials and the floodwall/storm surge wall, agency staff wrote in in the revised basis of decision.
The Office of Coastal Management determined that Commonwealth’s developer, Kimmeridge, met permit requirements through mitigation efforts that included specific conditions such as seasonal restrictions on habitat clearing, monitoring of hydrology and enhanced habitat planting.
“Without conceding the correctness of the trial court judgment, nor in anyway limiting the OCM’s rights to challenge the trial court’s conclusion, and reserving all possible defenses and legal arguments in this matter and others, OCM determines that it being in the best interest of the State to not delay this matter further does here provide additional consideration of the record to specifically analyze ‘the facility’s impact on climate-related change in the coastal zone, if any, in conjunction with the other LNG facilities in the area, as well as environmental justice issues,” Office of Coastal Management staff wrote in the revised basis of decision.
The project’s potential effects on commercial fishing in the Calcasieu River, Calcasieu Ship Channel, Calcasieu Lake and within the Gulf were addressed in comments made by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, which found no adverse impacts on habitat, staff wrote. The Office of Coastal Management concluded the project will have temporary but minor impacts on commercial fisheries.
“All comments were given a full and fair consideration by OCM,” the Office said in the decision. “Furthermore, all comments were sufficiently discussed and addressed in the Review Process and Coastal Use Guidelines Analysis.”
“In performing a balanced review, the social and economic benefits to the public must outweigh the environmental impacts,” Office of Coastal Management staff wrote. “In this case, the proposed project will provide direct economic benefits to communities in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes and the State of Louisiana.”
Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, which had called for the permit to be revoked, said the revised decision is a rubber stamp that puts corporations ahead of people.
“The comments about the fishermen is a good example of how the agency is just not being serious in its approach,” Rolfes said. Why don’t they talk to the fishermen? If you spend 10 minutes with fishermen in Cameron, they will tell you that the gas export industry has decimated their business, and that adding Commonwealth LNG would make it worse.”
