Energy regulators have approved plans to expand a Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Savannah and build a new pipeline.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval upsets environmentalists, who worry about spills, explosions and ship collisions. Judy Jennings of the Sierra Club says, the federal agency did not do a good enough job questioning the need for such risk.
"This final environmental impact statement says, 'This seems to be the less impact simply because the infrastructure's already here,'" Jennings says. "I think we need to ask ourselves, 'Is this the appropriate infrastructure for this day and time and is there a better alternative out there?'"
The agency's approval allows Southern Natural Gas to go forward with plans to double the amount of gas stored at its terminal on Elba Island on the Savannah River. It also wants to cut a 2-hundred-mile long route down the coast to transport the gas elsewhere.
The Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission isn't the last word on Elba Island. If the final okay is given, perhaps later this year, two new 12-story gas tanks could be operational on the Savannah River by 2010.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval upsets environmentalists, who worry about spills, explosions and ship collisions. Judy Jennings of the Sierra Club says, the federal agency did not do a good enough job questioning the need for such risk.
"This final environmental impact statement says, 'This seems to be the less impact simply because the infrastructure's already here,'" Jennings says. "I think we need to ask ourselves, 'Is this the appropriate infrastructure for this day and time and is there a better alternative out there?'"
The agency's approval allows Southern Natural Gas to go forward with plans to double the amount of gas stored at its terminal on Elba Island on the Savannah River. It also wants to cut a 2-hundred-mile long route down the coast to transport the gas elsewhere.
The Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission isn't the last word on Elba Island. If the final okay is given, perhaps later this year, two new 12-story gas tanks could be operational on the Savannah River by 2010.
