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Jordan Cove: Permits and Projects

Note: January 2020
DEQ has not received any complete permit applications. DEQ denied without prejudice the 401 Water Quality Certification on May 6, 2019. Jordan Cove may submit a new 401 Water Quality Certification application in early 2020.
Jordan Cove Energy Project L.P. proposes to construct a liquefied natural gas export facility on 500 acres of the North Spit across the Coos Bay from the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. The approximately 229-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline’s capacity would be up to one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Other elements of the project include construction of a marine terminal, widening of the navigation channel at four turns, a regional emergency response center, temporary workforce housing, and road and highway improvements. Roughly 100 acres will be set aside to offset habitat impacted by the project at the former Kentuck golf course in Coos County.
 
As proposed, the liquefied natural gas facility would begin operating mid-2020s. DEQ must evaluate the proposed project to ensure it complies with state and federal environmental laws during and after construction.
Permits
DEQ expects to receive a number of additional permit applications from Jordan Cove in the next year or two that will involve various aspects of the project from construction to wastewater management, and landfill closures on the North Spit of Coos Bay. As part of the permit review process, DEQ will hold public comment periods and in many cases informational meetings and public hearings.

The status of those permit applications is below. Check this page for regular updates throughout the permit review process. Information on the public involvement process for each permit is included in the chart called DEQ Estimated Permits Schedule in the Documents section below.
 

Permit applications

​​Under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, DEQ has the authority to certify whether federally permitted activities that may result in a discharge to state waters comply with applicable water quality standards.

Project activities that have potential water quality impacts include those associated with dredging, filling in wetlands, excavating, clearing the pipeline corridor, drilling, stabilizing site soil to prevent ground movement during earthquakes, and managing post construction stormwater runoff.

DEQ and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a 90-day comment period on a Section 401 Water Quality Certification application from the Jordan Cove Energy Project. The comment period closed Aug. 22, 2018.
 
View the full public notice in the documents section below for details on the comment process.

DEQ will review and consider all comments on the application received during the public comment period. DEQ may request additional information requests from the applicant. DEQ will use the application material to develop an evaluation findings report and draft certification decision. DEQ may issue the draft certification decision on the project as proposed, issue the certification with conditions, or deny the certification.

Next steps:

  • DEQ will draft an evaluation and findings report and decide whether to draft a 401 Water Quality Certification or deny the certification.
  • DEQ will hold a separate public comment period on its proposed determination.
  • DEQ’s will also hold public meetings and public hearings at multiple locations during the public comment period.
  • DEQ will evaluate and summarize public comments in its evaluation report before making a final determination.
 
DEQ submitted several information requests to Jordan Cove on its Section 401 Water Quality Certification application from September 2018 through March 2019. The requests sought information about drilling under rivers or trenching through rivers along the pipeline route and about land use. DEQ had also asked Jordan Cove to provide a timeline for when would fulfill the requests.
 
DEQ denied without prejudice the 401 Water Quality Certification on May 6, 2019.
 
Documentation

​​The Air Quality Program received an air contaminant discharge permit application for the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas facility and an air contaminant discharge permit modification application for the Pacific Connector pipeline compressor station. Air Contaminant Discharge Permits primarily regulate minor sources of air contaminant emissions, but are also required for any new major source or major modification at a major source. DEQ will review the application materials and begin drafting permits.

When DEQ finishes drafting a permit for the liquefied natural gas facility and a permit modification for the compressor station, DEQ will hold separate public comment periods and hearings. The air quality liquefied natural gas facility public hearing will be held in Coos Bay and the air quality compression station public hearing will be held in Malin.

​
Jordan Cove is planning to treat industrial and domestic wastewater from its facilities on the North Spit. DEQ will require Jordan Cove to seek a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to manage the wastewater using a new wastewater treatment system. 
 
Next Steps:
DEQ is waiting for Jordan Cove to submit a complete permit application.

​​Jordan Cove has a permitted landfill with three cells on the North Spit (Solid Waste Permit No. 1142). Jordan Cove is developing plans to close the landfill, which would require revised Operations, Conceptual Closure and Post-Closure Care plans under its current permit. In April 2018, DEQ received those revised plans from Jordan Cove.
 
In July 2018, DEQ approved the revised Operations, Conceptual Closure and Post-Closure Care plans. See the documents section below.
 
Under the 2018 Operations Plan, Cells 2 and 3 would no longer receive new waste. In addition, the 2018 Conceptual Closure Plan and Post-Closure Care Plan for both Cells 2 and 3 have changed. Under the new plans, Cell 3 will no longer be closed and capped. Instead, waste would be removed from inside the liner in two phases. In the first phase, some waste would be removed and taken to a permitted landfill off site. In the second phase, the remaining waste and the liner would also be removed and disposed of off site. Any removal in the second phase will be reviewed and approved as part of the closure permit. The Conceptual Closure Plan for Cell 2 is not changing. That cell will be closed and capped.
 
Next steps:
DEQ is waiting for revised plans from Jordan Cove to draft the closure permit. Jordan Cove prepared a dewatering plan to reduce the amount of liquid from the bottom of Cell 3. The information gathered under the dewatering plan will help Jordan Cove finalize its closure plans. DEQ approved the dewatering plan in March 2019. See the Document Section for a copy of the plan and DEQ’s approval letter.

Jordan Cove needs stormwater permits for:
  • Its liquefied natural gas facilities on the North Spit of Coos Bay
  • The Trans Pacific Lane road improvements for the road into the facility from Highway 101
  • The Kentuck mitigation site in Coos County
  • The former Al Pierce Lumber Co. site in North Bend
  • The Pacific Connector pipeline from Malin to the North Spit terminal
DEQ requires National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for stormwater discharges to surface waters from construction and industrial activities and municipalities if stormwater from rain or snowmelt leaves a site through a "point source" and reaches surface waters either directly or through storm drainage. Projects that disturb more than one acre of land are required to obtain a 1200-C permit.
 
Next Steps:
DEQ is waiting for Jordan Cove to submit a complete permit application.

​
A Water Pollution Control Facilities permit is needed to manage the land application of the spent hydrostatic testing water. Hydrostatic testing will be used to check for leaks during the construction of the Pacific Connector pipeline. The spent water will be land applied in several locations along the pipeline route.
 
Next Steps:
DEQ is waiting for Jordan Cove to submit a complete permit application.




Contacts

For more information about DEQ's role in the proposed Jordan Cove Energy Project, call Mary Camarata, Project Coordinator, at 541-687-7435.
 
Members of the media should contact Dylan Darling at 541-600-6119.

Project elements 

​The proposed terminal would receive natural gas via the pipeline. At the terminal, natural gas would be super-cooled into a liquid and transferred to vessels for export. Roughly 110 to 120 vessels would use the terminal each year.

​The proposed export facility includes a new marine slip to accommodate ocean-going vessels. The marine slip would be excavated on 120 acres adjacent to the Coos Bay to create about 30 acres of new marine moorage. The marine slip would be dredged and maintained to a depth of 45 feet and would displace about 4.3 million cubic yards of dredged material. An additional 1.3 million cubic yards of material would be dredged to create an access channel connecting the marine slip with the federally maintained navigation channel. Jordan Cove will place the dredged material at four proposed locations: the Weyerhaeuser Linerboard Mill site, the liquefied natural gas terminal site, the Kentuck golf course mitigation site, and the North Point site in North Bend.

​The proposed Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline Project is designed to transport up to one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Malin to the Jordan Cove LNG terminal, where the natural gas will be liquefied for export to international markets. The pipeline would affect about 450 bodies of water in the Coos, Coquille, South Umpqua, Upper Rogue, Upper Klamath and Lost River watersheds. The pipeline would cross beneath four major rivers (Coos, Umpqua, Rogue and Klamath) and would cross 1.58 miles of wetlands and 2.45 miles of water bodies.

The applicant is proposing to construct the pipeline in approximately five segments referred to as ‘spreads’.
 
Spread 1 – MP 0.00-51.60
  • North Bend, Coos County to Camas Valley, Douglas County
Spread 2 – MP 51.60-94.67
  • Camas Valley, Douglas County to Milo, Douglas County
Spread 3 – MP 94.67-132.47
  • Milo, Douglas County to Butte Falls Highway, Jackson County
Spread 4 – MP 132.47-169.50
  • Butte Falls Highway, Jackson County to Buck Lake, Klamath County
Spread 5 – MP 169.50-228.81
  • Buck Lake, Klamath County to Malin, Klamath County

​Housing, sanitary services, and amenities for 700 temporary construction workers are proposed for development during construction of the liquefied natural gas project. The housing is proposed on the North Spit at the former Weyerhaeuser mill site.

​The Southwest Oregon Regional Safety Center, a multi-agency emergency response and training center, would be on the North Spit at the former Weyerhaeuser mill site.