For anyone wondering what dump dominion means, this is the press release on their now down website:
Dominion Cove Point is a bad deal for everyone.
Dominion Cove Point is a bad deal for people and the planet.
Dominion Cove Point would be the first liquefied natural gas export facility in the world to be built in a residential neighborhood, in violation of basic safety siting standards.1 Dominion Cove Point would store up to 410,000 gallons of propane and 14.6 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas, a storage capacity that exceeds New York State’s newly adopted regulation by 2,525 times.1
Dominion Cove Point would release 21.5 tons of Hazardous Air Pollutants each year including acetaldehyde, acrolein, ammonia, arsenic, benzene, butane, ethylbenzene, fluoranthene, formaldehyde, hexane, hydrogen sulfidenitrous oxide, mercury, propylene oxide, sulfuric acid mist, toluene, zinc, xylenes, and suspended particulates.2
Dominion Cove Point runs the risk of creating a vapor cloud, flash fire, or other type of explosion. Yet, no Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) has been completed as is required by fire code (2013 National Fire Protection Association standard 59A, in effect at the time of Dominion’s application.)3 A report from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources shows that the risk of fatality from flash fire extends well beyond the Dominion property line.22
Dominion Cove Point would be the the fourth largest climate polluter in Maryland.4 Dominion Cove Point is a bad deal for investors.
The U.S. LNG export industry is shaky and on the decline.
The crash in oil prices makes LNG exports unprofitable. In December 2014, plummeting oil prices forced Excelerate Energy to nix their LNG export plans in Texas.5
In August 2015, Bank of America itself warned that plummeting crude oil prices make LNG export projects less favorable.6
In September 2015, president and CEO of Engie’s GDF Suez Energy North America said: “You cannot ship gas from the United States anymore…Nobody really is making money from LNG now. Certainly we are not.”7
The looming global supply glut bodes poorly for LNG’s future. With Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG facility anticipated to come online next year and 7 new plants in Australia planned to enter the market in the next two years, global LNG supply is expected to exceed demand by 2016.8, 9
In October 2015, Noel Tomnay, head of global gas and LNG research at Wood Mackenzie said “The LNG market is facing another oversupply which … will persist for some years.” The LNG supply glut will force a drop in prices.10
Dominion Cove Point is behind schedule in the midst of an international race to get LNG on the market.
With international competition from Australia, Qatar, Russia, Oman, the American Natural Gas Alliance warned in April 2015 that “global demand for LNG is not infinite. Many countries are making plans to compete. The time for the U.S. to act is now.”11
Meanwhile, permitting delays pushed back the start of construction of Dominion Cove Point by 4 months.21, 22
Though Dominion estimates its LNG facility at Cove Point to be in-service by summer 2017, the Brookings Institution cautions: “Even for the five U.S. projects that have received all green lights over the course of 2014, it is important to keep in mind that with an estimated brownfield construction time of four years, the earliest achievable start dates will be in late 2018/early 2019.”12
One analyst cautions industry executives and investors that the dormant LNG import facilities built decades ago, including the one at Cove Point, Maryland, “serve as a reminder of how quickly fortunes can change.”13
A groundswell of people is resisting Dominion Cove Point every step of the way.
A strong coalition has been resisting the LNG export facility at Cove Point since Fall 2013.
In April 2014, over 40,000 Marylanders urged the Maryland Public Service Commission to reject the project.14
In June 2014, an unprecedented 150,000 people across the country called the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the project.15
In July 2014, over 1,000 people marched to the doorsteps of FERC to demand a stop to fracked gas exports.16
In May 2015, Earthjustice, on behalf of Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Patuxent Riverkeeper, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit over FERC’s authorization of the Cove Point LNG project.17
People have taken and will continue to take actions to stop this project.
Even Dominion CEO Tom Farrell admitted in June 2015 that a broad coalition of opponents to the Cove Point LNG export has emerged that looks different than in the past.18
Associate Director of the Maguire Energy Institute, Dr. Bernard Weinstein, said in June 2015 at the LDC Gas Forum: “All those [protestors] who were here this morning, they are going to be camped out at Cove Point. Maybe it will be built…I just think the political and environmental push back is going to be tremendous…I’m just real skeptical.“
Why Bank of America?
Bank of America is a major financier of Dominion Resources.
Bank of America owns 1.5 % of Dominion Resources19 and is helping to lend Dominion Resources up to $4 billion for its massive build-out of gas infrastructure.20
Bank of America is a major financier of Dominion Cove Point.
Bank of America underwrote $275 million in June 2013 to reduce Dominion’s indebtedness and contribute to capital expenses of the $3.8 billion liquefied natural gas export facility in Cove Point, Maryland.20, 21
About We Are Cove Point
We Are Cove Point is a coalition of people and organizations that is working together to stop a new liquefied fracked gas export terminal that Dominion Resources is trying to build in the residential community of Cove Point in Lusby, Maryland. This is the first liquefied fracked gas export terminal to be built on the East Coast and the first one to be built adjacent to a residential neighborhood. We Are Cove Point pledges to reclaim the community of Cove Point from Dominion using whatever tools necessary.