Lands board sends Bradwood back to Clatsop

Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) on Tuesday ordered Clatsop County to reconsider its decision to approve permits for the proposed Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas plant.

The board ruled that Clatsop needed to reconsider two of 21 findings it made in approving permits.

Opponents and supporters of the project called the LUBA ruling a victory.

"The effect of this victory is that the land use approval is invalid," said Brett VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper, one of the groups opposing the plant. "Therefore, the state cannot process any permits because the project is inconsistent with local land use.

"We won on two claims. First, the county failed to properly determine whether the LNG terminal and pipeline protects salmon and traditional fishing areas. Second, the county improperly decided that the project is small to medium-sized.

"It is nice that the court rejected the county's absurdly narrow view of the project."

However, a spokesman for Bradwood Landing LLC said in a Tuesday statement that the opinion provided "clarity and direction" on the information needed for the county to ensure that its previous approval complies with Oregon land use rules.

“Today’s 50-page LUBA decision is well reasoned and supported by an exhaustive record comprising 10,000 pages of analysis and studies,” said NorthernStar Natural Gas Senior Vice President for External Relations Joe Desmond.

“By siding with the county’s conclusions in nearly every instance, LUBA has reaffirmed that the county’s original approval was well founded and supported by the record. We are confident the remaining two items remanded by LUBA can be successfully resolved. Today’s decision moves our project closer to providing a much needed economic boost to Clatsop County and helping to stabilize the region’s long-term energy costs.”