On April 22, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey an appeal of the Army Corps of Engineers permit for the Gibbstown Dock 2 project, which would be the first major facility approved in the US for the export of LNG.
The Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit on February 28, 2020, allowing the project to move forward. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) argues that under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act, and other laws, this permit should not have been issued.
The filing reads:
- “Throughout the permit process, the Corps has failed to involve the public in preparing and implementing its NEPA procedures. NEPA was mentioned in the April 4, 2019 Public Notice and the July 16, 2019 Supplemental Public Notice, but a draft EA was never circulated, and when the permit was ultimately issued, the February 28, 2020 Public Notice made no mention of the outcome of the Corps’ NEPA process.”
- “The Army Corps’ action in issuing a permit for the Dock 2 Project without preparing an EA as required by NEPA and its implementing regulations is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law.”
The group added that there is no reason why the Army Corps of Engineers should have issued a permit without performing any kind of Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement.
LNG export is fraught with danger and threatens pollution in every aspect of its development, from cradle to grave, demanding the highest level of scrutiny from agencies. It is outrageous that the Delaware Riverkeeper Network is having to go to such great lengths to secure the necessary review from the Army Corps of Engineers, the work they are responsible for carrying out but have failed to deliver
stated Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
The LNG export terminal (Dock 2) is a proposed expansion of the Gibbstown Logistics Center deepwater port, in Gibbstown, Greenwich Township, Gloucester County, NJ along the Delaware River.
Dock 2 would be located next to the substantially completed Dock 1, both located on the manufacturing site known as the Repauno Plant.
Delaware River Partners wants to use the site to receive LNG by truck. The terminal would also use the site to transport natural gas liquids (NGL).
