West Coast leaders push back on plans to expand fracked gas pipeline

West Coast leaders are calling on the federal government to reconsider plans to expand a fracked gas pipeline throughout western states.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, authorized the expansion of the Gas Transmission Northwest XPress fracked gas pipeline in October.

Gov. Jay Inslee was joined at a virtual news conference Wednesday, Nov. 22, by an attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, a Hood River, Oregon-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to “protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it” to announce a motion that was filed to reconsider the decision.

Attorneys General of Washington, Oregon and California filed the petition for reconsideration Nov. 22.

“We’re doing so because this FERC decision totally ignores both the legal requirements in the state of Washington and our vision to decarbonize our economy, and wean ourselves off of dangerous toxic methane gas,” Inslee said.

The governor said the federal decision to move forward with the project ignores Washington state laws to reduce the use of methane.

“It is incredible to us that a federal agency would allow a project to move forward which is diametrically opposed to the policies and the laws of the state of Washington,” he said.

The FERC decision is also ignoring another specific requirement, Inslee noted.

“It is required to consider the public necessity, and the public interest, and it considered neither fully in regard to this petition,” the governor said.

Inslee said that in future years fossil fuels will become “stranded assets” that will result in rate increases for consumers. He said he believes the decision is bad for consumers “from a rate increase standpoint” as well as for Washington’s environment.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell have all opposed the project as well.

A petition was filed Nov. 21 by Columbia Riverkeeper and Rogue Climate, a nonprofit based in Southern Oregon focused on climate issues.

Audrey Leonard, an attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, said that the petition challenges the approval of the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Natural Gas Act.

“FERC’s approval violates the Natural Gas Act, which requires a finding that the project is in the public interest,” she said. “FERC ignored our state policies and evidence of declining demand for fracked gas which clearly show that there is not a need for this gas in our region.”

The pipeline enters Washington just to the east of Spokane and passes just to the east of the Tri-Cities near the western edge of Walla Walla County.

The governor’s office said in a news release Nov. 22 that if the pipeline operates as proposed, “it would represent 48% of the region’s target greenhouse gas emissions from all sources” by 2050.

Inslee previously released a statement in October condemning FERC approval of the pipeline. In the statement he noted that the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission also was opposed to the project.

TC Energy, a pipeline company involved in the plans for expansion, said on their website that the project will “upgrade three existing compressor stations on the Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) system — transporting natural gas since 1962 — to meet increasing demand from residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States while also providing supply reliability to the Pacific Northwest and West Coast regions as natural gas supplies coming from the Rockies region of the United States decline.”

“The Project will ensure ongoing reliability to communities in the Western U.S. in a safe and responsible manner, supplementing renewable energy as required,” TC Energy says.