Say NO to LNG in the Klamath basin!

Despite the fact that Oregon's Governor and Dept of Energy have said we don't need to compromise our rivers, farmland and forests for a pipeline carrying foreign fossil fuel to southern California energy markets, corporations are pushing an LNG terminal in Coos Bay with a connecting pipeline to Malin, Oregon, just southeast of Klamath Falls.

The pipeline would offer no new energy or long term jobs to Klamath communities. The pipeline would cause long term sediment pollution in critical habitat for suckers and redband trout, devalue farmland and private property through eminent domain, and introduce the risk of explosion and leakage to the Umpqua, Rogue and Klamath Rivers which taxpayers are investing a billion dollars to restore. If the federal government approves this project, Klamath Riverkeeper will join other grassroots groups in going to court to stop it.

First though, the pipeline must get a 401 clean water permit from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Join us in asking ODEQ to deny a clean water permit for this destructive, risk-laden, and unneeded pipeline!

Please feel free to add any experience you have fishing, boating, or otherwise using the Klamath River below the form letter we've provided.

>> Learn more about the Pacific Connector pipeline & the Klamath basin

Subject: Don't permit the Pacific Connector pipeline!

Your Letter:

Impacts caused by construction and operation of the Pacific Connector pipeline would be in clear violation of important water quality standards in the Upper Klamath Basin.  These standards are key regulatory tools intended to prevent pollution on the mainstem Klamath, the Lost River, and Spencer Creek – waterways whose pollution already necessitates extensive TMDLs and massive restoration efforts.

Adverse impacts to endangered suckers, native redband trout and other fishes constitute a clear challenge to the Klamath’s most vital beneficial use: fishing as practiced by Native people, the general public, and recreational businesses.  The pipeline’s impacts would also negatively impact beneficial uses designated for these watersheds such as Fish & Aquatic Life, Aesthetic Quality, Wildlife & Hunting, and Water Contact Recreation.

Because the proposed Pacific Connector pipeline, as described in FERC’s FEIS, is anticipated to violate Klamath Basin water quality standards resulting in damage to numerous designated beneficial uses, ODEQ must deny a 401 permit for this project.

Please uphold your responsibility to prevent further degradation of the Klamath's waters and deny 401 certification for the Pacific Connector pipeline.

Alex Liverman

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Attn: 401 Water Quality Certification Coordinator
2020 S.W. 4th Ave., Ste. 400
Portland, OR 97201-4987