Trunkline LNG’s proposed plant expansion has reached the public comment stage and residents have about a month to let their voices be heard.

Brian Johnston, an environmental scientist with the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, said residents have until 4:30 p.m. April 20, to submit comments or requests for a public hearing on the project to DEQ. Submissions can be made either through mail or through the department’s website.

Johnston said he was unable to say whether the project will go to a public hearing since interest in the region’s plant projects “has been varied.”

“Some have garnered a lot of public interest; some not so much,” he said. “It’s hard to predict.”

Located on Big Lake Road, Trunkline has been an import facility since its opening in 1981. Now, Trunkline’s parent company, Energy Transfer Equity, is looking to expand the plant with three new liquefaction trains that will produce about 13 million tons of LNG each year for export.

The cost for Trunkline’s proposed expansion is estimated at $11 billion.

Trunkline has applied for its Title V air permit and Prevention of Signification Deterioration permit with DEQ. Johnston said these permits would limit the amount of greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants released from the facility on an hourly and annual basis.

Criteria pollutants include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, Johnston said.

The permits will also specify Trunkline’s monitoring requirements to prove compliance with those pollutant limitations and all necessary record keeping.

Trunkline is looking to export LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. The company received conditional approval for its non-FTA export license with the U.S. Department of Energy in August 2013.

Trunkline applied for its construction permit with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last April. FERC announced last month it would issue its final environmental impact statement on the project this August.

At its peak, Trunkline’s expansion is expected to create about 5,000 construction-related jobs.

Work on the project is scheduled to run this year through 2020.

When the plant’s new trains go into operation, about 250 permanent jobs will be created, including control room personnel, engineers, cryogenic experts and supervisors.

(American Press Archives)