LNG by rail shipment rule challenged in U.S. court
Last week, a coalition of six environmental advocacy groups asked a federal judge to block a new Trump administration rule to allow rail shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a new front in the movement of energy products backed by both the natural gas and rail freight industries.
The groups will argue the administration did not adequately study the new rule to ensure that the activity it is authorising is safe for workers, communities and the environment, said Jordan Luebkemann, Lawyer for Earthjustice.
Emily Jeffers, an attorney with the Centre for Biological Diversity, said: “Under this new rule, it’s only a matter of time before we see an explosion in a major population centre.”
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration declined to comment. The agency published the rule late last month in the Federal Register – it takes effect this month.
The rule requires rail tanker enhancements to the approved tank car design that has been approved for shipments of other flammable cryogenic materials, such as liquid ethylene and liquid ethane. The enhancements include a thicker outer tank made of steel with a greater puncture resistance.
Previously, federal hazardous materials regulations allowed shipments of LNG by truck, but not by rail, except with a special permit.
Fifteen states also objected to the rule during the comment period. Those states included Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the Trump administration issued a special permit in December to ship LNG by rail from northern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas fields to a yet-to-be-built storage terminal at a former explosives plant in New Jersey, along the Delaware River near Philadelphia.
From there, the LNG is expected to be exported to foreign markets for electricity production, although the applicant, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, has told federal regulators that some domestic industrial use is possible.
For more information visit www.newfortressenergy.com
24th August 2020
